iNcluso Si Sólo
by Limstella
Summary: When the iCarly gang visits Spain, they become fast friends with the hotel's sultry blues singer, only to find after just one week that he knows them better than they know themselves. Rated T for Infrequent Coarse Language and Suggestive Dialogue.
1. Introducción

Carly Shay sighed and sat down on the sofa in front of the TV. It had been a long day at school, and before she started her homework she NEEDED to relax to a little girly cow. No sooner had her half hour of relaxation started, however, when a once, sometimes twice daily occurrence happened; a familiar face walked through the door, made his way towards the living room, and said, "Hey can I come in?"

"You're already in," Carly said, groaning. "You always already are."

"Aww, come on, Carles!" Freddie said, giving her a little nudge to the arm as he sat beside her with a bowl of oatmeal in hand. "How can you not be excited right now?"

"What are you talking about?" Carly asked, rolling her eyes; no matter how long each day at school was, Freddie always had some perky shenanigan that he thought would cheer her up. But, as she always did, she heard him out; she knew that if she didn't, she would hurt his feelings, and she valued their friendship too much for that.

"The Spanish class Field Trip!!! HOW CAN YOU NOT BE EXCITED?!?!!?"

"Oh right. Leaving for Spain in a week. Staying there for a week. Returning to this place in a week. Yea, I'm excited."

You don't sound excited," Freddie replied, his voice mixed with anticipation and confusion.

"Idk," Carly said, rolling her head on to the sofa throw cushion. "I just don't feel excited today. Maybe tomorrow. Let's just go upstairs to rehearse for tomorrow's show."

Carly and Freddie headed upstairs to look over the scripts they had written regarding the various stunts they were planning to pull on their upcoming web show. "Sam is late," Freddie said.

"She's always late," Carly said, completely emotionless.

"OK, WHAT is wrong with you?!?!?!?" Freddie exclaimed. "I haven't seen you like this since that actor from girly cow joked and said the show was canceled and you believed him!"

"UGH… you're right. I guess I need to lighten up. Why don't you txt Sam and ask her where she is," Carly proposed; although a hint of angst remained in her voice, she attempted to make the best of their upcoming rehearsal. She barely heard Freddie's reply as she made her greatest effort all day to clear her mind of the emotions that kept welling up inside ever since the guy she had liked for three weeks now blatantly had told her today, in his exact words, "I'm not interested."

"She says she'll be here in a minute, she's at the groovy smoothie with Wendy and some others," Freddie said, glancing at Carly apprehensively, but as he looked at her face, he was relieved to see a bit of sunshine peer through her cloudy demeanor.

"Cool," she said, that old spring in her step restored. "And yeah, I am excited about going to Spain! Actually, I think it's exactly what I need right now."

"I think it's what we ALL need right now," Freddie replied; the three of them had recently been through a relentless barrage of standardized testing, which only complemented the other teen-angst related issues they were experiencing. As the two of them reflected on how pumped they were for a little Spanish sunshine, they heard a DING come from the elevator, and Sam's slim and perky figure appeared, complemented by a half-finished smoothie. "THERE you are!" Carly said, exasperated with her friend's bad habit of tardiness. "All right party people, you ready to rehearse?!"

Sam exclaimed. Although the tests and peer pressure had come down the hardest on her, she was the toughest, and thus was best at hiding it.

"Yeah, we're ready," Carly said, forcing a smile.

Freddie took his position and counted down; "In five, four three two…"


	2. LLegando a España

"OMG, look! You can see…umm…you know…what's it called! You know, that statue?! You can see it!"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Jeez, freddifer, try not to wet yourself."

"Sam," Freddie persisted in his usual annoyed tone, "That monument is really important to the history of Spain!"

"Yea, whatever," Sam said, completely unimpressed. "All I care about right now is finding something to eat."

"Oh, Sam. What a surprise," Carly said with a light tone and an inward smile. Although the two were bickering, it was just their usual banter, and so all three of them let it slide as nothing. After what seemed like hours of waiting, finally their bus arrived at the hotel at which they would be staying.

"Now Children," Principal Franklin addressed his students, "Please wait here until I finish finalizing our reservations. Do not leave the lobby and try not to cause any trouble." No sooner had Principal Franklin finished these words than Sam, Freddie, and Carly looked around for something to do, if anything at all. As they walked around the lobby, their attention fell on a giant bulletin board filled with all the latest information.

"AGH," Sam exclaimed in frustration, "I can't read any of this! It's like ALL in Spanish."

"Well look, this one is in English," Freddie said, pointing to a small message posted at the bottom.

_Bilingual Music Show- one week only! The Blues stylings of RRico Castaño & accompaniment. This Mon. thru Sat._

"Blues Music?" Sam half asked, half recited. "What even is blues music anyways? And why are both of those letter R's capitalized?"

Freddie rolled his eyes. "Jeez Sam, Sometimes you can be so uneducated!"

"How would you describe blues music?" Carly asked of her peers, before Freddie could go on to yell at Sam over unimportant things. "I mean, like, there's different kinds and stuff, but they're all about like sad stuff, and they usually have like kind of a slow beat, right?"

"Well, yea," Freddie started, "But it's more than just---"

"Hey it says on the ad that food and drink is free at the show!!!" Sam exclaimed delightedly. "We're SO going."

"Fine," Carly and Freddie said, rolling their eyes in unison. As beloved as Sam was to them, her addiction to food could at times be annoying. But before of them could say another word, Principal Franklin announced that they were ready to go to their rooms, something that they were all more than eager to do.

Carly went upstairs to her room, which she would share with Sam, and Freddie went to the next floor up, where he would room with Gibby.

Sam flopped onto her bed as soon as she saw it, and carly closed the door behind her as she dragged both of their luggages onto the next bed over. As she started unpacking, however, carly noticed that Sam was being awfully quiet. She looked over to Sam to ask her about this new behavior, but fell silent as she saw Sam's mouth open to speak.

"So Carles, I'm just curious…"

"Yea?" Carly said, tilting her head slightly and gazing in Sam's direction.

"Where do you and Freddie stand?"

"Umm, what exactly do you mean?"

"Well, like," Sam paused for a second, then continued; "You know how he always asks you out, and then you say no, and then you guys are still friends but he's still 'in love' with you and do you think it's creepy but is there anything wrong with it? I'm just wondering because I was just curious because---"

"SAM!" Carly cut her off. "Wtf? I've never heard you start rambling like this! What has gotten into you?!"

Sam's eyelids and gaze fell in unison. "Nothing," She replied somberly. "Just don't worry about it. Nvm."

Carly looked at her in disbelief. "Something strange has gotten into you. You need to like take a bubble bath or something!"

"Yea, deff," Sam said. Although the last thing that would solve her problem was bathing, (WTF!? She thought inwardly,) she was glad to end the conversation, bewildered at why she had been foolish enough in the first place. Even if Carly was the one person who knew her best, she just didn't want to talk about it now. Maybe in the morning.


	3. RRico El Camarero Misterioso

Sam was just about ready to go to bed, when carly shook her and said, "Come on, wake up! We have a show to see!"

"I'm awake," Sam exclaimed, the worst lie she had told in weeks. "What are you talking about?"

"That blues music show we wanted to see!" Carly replied with excitement in her voice. "Come on," she persisted, noticing the look on Sam's face, "I really like the blues and since you said you'd never heard them I want you to experience them! And don't try and make any excuses because I know how you feel about free food."

"Fine, fine, I'll go with you and Freddie," Sam said with exasperation as she pulled herself off of her bed. "But do we have to leave right now?"

"YES!" Carly exclaimed, beginning to feel a bit exasperated herself. "The show starts in ten minutes and I don't want to keep Freddie waiting; I made him promise he'd come! And I don't want to miss any of it. It sounds like its really going to be a good show."

"Fine," Sam repeated, and pulled on her shoes and socks. Although she was ready to see the show, her mind was still on Freddie; for she had experienced something new just the other day. When she had made a rude comment to him earlier, something in her stomach had jumped up and she felt like she was going to vomit. A few seconds in, she realized that she had FELT BAD about teasing Freddie; and this was easily the first time this had happened to her, and the sensation was more foreign to her than the countless Spaniards wandering the hotel. However, she was focused on having a good time with her friends and enjoying some free food, so she made every attempt to put this strange sensation out of her mind as she trudged downstairs to meet Freddie and Carly at the bar.

"Are we even allowed in here?" Freddie wondered aloud to his friends, peering through the doorway into the dimly lit, smoky hotel bar.

"Well actually, the legal drinking age in Spain are 16, so I think we'll be ok," Carly responded, relieved that she could remember at least one of the many facts she had learned in Spanish class.

"Chill biz," Sam said nonchalantly, and pushed open the door to admit herself. The three of them pondered what they would find as they sauntered into the bar, only to find that most of the people there were only a few years younger than them. They took their seats at a round table at the very front of the bar, and as soon as they had done so they were greeted by a perky boy who was doubtlessly the same age as them. _"Hola Amigos, cómo puedo ayudar ustedes anoche?"_

For a split second, Carly Sam and Freddie Shared the Sam puzzled expression. In hushed tones, Sam was first to speak: "What should we say?" at this, however, comprehension dawned on the face of their server, and he said "Oh, you must be the Ridgeway kids! It's ok, I speak English," with a warm and perky smile.

As soon as Sam realized that he spoke English, everything regarding her feelings towards Freddie was swept out of her mind, for after the language barrier was out of the way she was able to take in his physical appearance, and she took great pleasure in doing so. His hair was platinum blonde fauxhawk, but you could tell the color was real and the style was not over gelled or anything stupid looking like that. His skin was a light shade, but darker enough than his skin that the overall effect was very appealing. As she looked farther down unto his eyes, she noticed their intense, striking, dark color, and looking into his eyes she could not help but believe he was doing the same thing, no matter which angle she looked from. His build was unusually slender, but this did not bother Sam, as she began to focus more on his shapely hips and the way they smoothly conjoined with the rest of his body. It was not until she realized that Freddie was talking that she realized that she was staring at him, and also that carly was doing the same thing. Snapping back to reality, she heard Freddie's voice: "Umm, the thing is, sir, we don't have any euros… so we don't know if we can pay for anything?"

The server laughed a little at this, and Sam was immediately enraptured by his soft, gentle, intimate tone of voice as he did so. "Actually, food and drink is free for this event. Would you like a minute to browse our menu?"

"YES" Sam involuntarily yelled, immediately cursing herself for doing so. She had sounded so stupid! "I mean, uh, yeah" Sam tried to cover, and giggled a little. At this point, even Carly was staring at her.

The server wore a puzzled look on his face and began to retreat from the table, but before he took his leave, he said "Ok, you kids take your time. My name is Rico if you need anything," and with that puzzled looking smile he took his leave.

As he walked away from the table, Carly and Sam made no attempt to hide their direct stares at his exit. "Damn," Carly said, "Check out the ass on THAT."

Freddie Jerked his head in her direction, shocked by what he had heard, and said "WHAT?!"

"Yea yea I know, it's not lady-like," said Carly, "But seriously." And as Sam gladly followed Carly's instructions, she could not help but notice again the way that his hips fit so smoothly with his stomach, and, just as carly had said, with a certain something else.

"Oh please," Freddie said, "I bet that hair is totally fake."

"Shut up fredweird," Sam retorted without even thinking about it, but no sooner had she done so than felt the same jerk in her stomach that she had felt so sick over earlier. "I mean," she started as she looked over at Freddie, "Like, …ugh. Never mind!" and with those words she sunk about an inch further into her seat.

Freddie tried not to stare at her, for this was the first time she had second guessed an insult, or whatever she had just done. Whatever she had done, Freddie had little time to ponder it, for Rico had just taken the stage of the bar and began adjusting the microphone to his height. He was not the only one to notice this, and all three of them stared up at the stage, wondering why he was up there and what he was about to say. Once he finished adjusting his mike, Rico looked out into the stage, and for a split second, locked eyes with Sam. As soon as she noticed this, and she did so in no time, for she had been watching his every move, he grinned coyly at her, looked back to the audience in general, and began to speak.


	4. Para Cantar Los Azules

"Hello," Rico said in his unnaturally smooth yet slightly high pitched voice, "And welcome to all our English speaking friends present tonight!" He bore a wide, genuine grin on his face. "We're so pumped to have you all here tonight. My name is Rico and I will be performing some American Style Blues Music For those out in the audience who are from America!" and with this statement he looked directly at the iCarly table and smiled at them. Then, he repeated everything he said in Spanish, and then proceeded to say, returning his gaze to the iCarly table, "I would like to open the night with a classic. This song means a lot to me because it describes something I think we have all felt about someone special to us before. _Mi primera cancion será _'I would rather go blind' _por_ Etta James."

As he finished speaking, the house lights went down, and pale blue spotlight, exactly resembling moonlight, shone down on Rico as he beheld the audience with an intense look on his face. As soon as he began the song, Sam could not help but notice how different Rico's voice sounded; when he had first introduced himself, his voice seemed oddly high pitched, and yet, as soon as he began the song, his voice was easily the deepest in the room. As Sam took in his voice fully, she remembered his introduction and listened to the words of the song. The song, slow in pace but strong in words, spoke of an outsider looking in. The song spoke of losing a loved one to someone who is loved more. She listened to the song, and in the song, she heard the pain; the immeasurable pain of wanting what you can't have. As she heard the lyrics, she repeated them over in her head and wondered where they sounded familiar from. She spoke unto herself, under her breath, I would rather go blind than to see you with that girl," and took a quick glance at Freddie. He was listening to the music, she could tell, but reading a txt. She turned her attention back to Rico. She watched him in awe until he finished the song, and when he did, she applauded him wildly and cheered loudly, her eyes beginning to well up with tears. _WAIT A MINUTE,_ Sam thought to herself, _WTF!?!?!?!?!? My eyes aren't supposed to well up! Toughen up, princess Puckett!!!_ And she did her best to control herself as he began the next song. However many songs passed, Sam had no idea because each one pounded against her heart and commanded the total attention of her mind. But no matter how many he did, Sam could not forget the first one that he had sung, "I would rather go blind," and how she could not shake the feeling of familiarity she felt with the song. Eventually, much to Sam's dismay, he eventually did need to wrap up the evening. No sooner had he done so, however, than Sam ran up to approach him, and after sharing a confused look, Carly and Freddie got up and trailed after her. As Sam met him at the foot of the stage, he smiled at her and said, "Oh, hey! Umm…"

"Sam," she eagerly finished for him, "It's Sam."

"Well," he said coyly, "So nice to finally know," and with this Sam blushed, only to realize that Carly and Freddie had joined her at the foot of the stage. Rico smiled at them and said, "So, what did you kids think?"

Before Carly or Freddie could answer the question, Sam yelled "Oh my god, it was amazing!!! That was better than a cuttlefish concert! I mean…" she retraced, noting the pinched eyebrows and wayward glance he gave her at the mention of the small, American band.

"A cuttlefish Concert?" he repeated, his voice mingled with confusion and curiosity. "What is it?"

Carly Giggled, and said "Well cuttlefish is the name of this band that we like, and, well, you know, they have concerts, and well," carly giggled some more and batted her eyelashes, "You know." An infectious smile spread across her face as she found herself lost for words.

"Right," Rico said, as one always says when they are completely unsure what to think of a situation.

"How old are you?" Sam asked abruptly, as she had made such a bad habit of doing.

"16" Rico replied, and as quickly as he said it, Sam said, "Wow, you're like our age!" She glanced nervously at carly, and said a bit unsurely, "Well, we're going to have like, a small little get together at our room tonight. Would you wanna come?" Carly's eyebrows furrowed, and she whispered to Sam, "We are?!"

Before Sam could say anything, however, Rico smiled warmly and said, "I would love to! What room are you guys staying in?"

"239!" Sam and Carly shouted in unison, only to have the realization dawn on them that they needed to prepare their room and invite other people if they wanted anything they said to be true.

"Yea," Carly said nervously, "so, uh, see you there in, uh, and hour!"

Sam looked at Carly and said, "Actually, Carles, I think it starts in a half hour," and raised her eyebrows at carly, only to have carly whisper/yell "I need an hour!" in her ear, then drag her away.

"I'm Freddie, by the way," Freddie said, confused by the strange behaviors, and barely had time to hear Rico reply "Nice to meet you," before carly and Sam dragged him away back to the elevator, ignoring his protests.

"WHY Do you guys always drag me all over creation?!" Freddie asked seething as soon as they were safe inside the elevator, but rather than answer his question, Sam and Carly just screamed in unison.

"OH MY GOD," Carly shouted, "I CANNOT believe we are about to have THAT in our hotel room!!!"

"HE has a name," Sam said Dreamily, "It's RRRICO," and at the beginning of his name she trilled her R rather flamboyantly.

"Now there's something I think we can ALL roll our R's at," carly said, giving Sam a knowing look, and they both looked down for a second with sly grins on their faces, until Freddie cut in: "I hope you guys aren't going to push him down an elevator shaft like you did to Shane!"

"For the last time, Freddie, Sam didn't push him, it was an accident," Carly said reassuringly, "But freddie's right. Sam and I have talked about this, so… what should we do, Sam?"

"Well, since it's clear we both like him, I don't think either of us should… put it on, if you know what I mean, unless he… starts it, if you know what I mean."

"AND by 'Strarts it,'" Carly said, giving Sam a disciplinary look, "It needs to be something SERIOUS."

"Right. Sam agreed, and for a second they both wore completely serious looks, until they met each other's eyes again, and then broke out in giggles.

"Ok, so what should we like, do?" Sam said.

"Freddie," Carly started, "You go around and invite some people. ONLY the cool people though. Like Wendy."

"Can I invite Gibby?"

"No," Carly shot back, a bit harsher than she had intended it. "I don't want him to embarrass me or anything."

"Okay…" Freddie said back, giving Carly a strange look. This was the first time he had heard her say something like that about Gibby. "Wow, you like really want to impress him, huh?"

"Well, yea," carly said, "I mean, I guess. Sorta. It's no big deal."

"OK, then," Freddie said with a hint of sarcasm, and went off to spread the word about their little get together, unable to help but notice that Carly was acting awfully stuck up for someone who claimed not to care about popularity.


	5. Para Fiestar y Ligar

"God Carly, are you ready yet?"

Carly had been in the bathroom for almost a full hour now and Sam was beginning to get tired of it. "I'm almost ready," replied Carly, who had been rearranging her outfit and applying makeup ever since Rico the blues singer agreed to attend their party, which did not even exist until Sam and Carly made it up on the spot to impress him only an hour earlier. "Ok," Carly said nervously, stepping out of the bathroom, "I'm ready."

Sam watched carly as she stepped out of the bathroom; she had put her hair in an elaborate up do, and loaded on as much makeup onto her face as humanly possible, the most noticeable of which was her deep red lipstick. She was wearing black stilettos, a black leather mini-skirt, and a red T-Shirt with the word "HOLA" on it.

"Whoa," Sam said. "You look, um…"

"Thanks!" Carly smiled and did a little twirl. "I think it looks good, I'm just worried that I need to-"

"CARLY!" Sam cut her off before she could say what she needed. "You look good. You don't need ANYTHING else."

Carly smiled at her friend, whom she new she could trust with anything. "Thanks. You look good too."

Before they could say anything else, Freddie came through the door, accompanied by Wendy and some of her girl friends. "Oh hey guys, what's--- WHOA," Freddie stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he saw carly and Sam in their new outfits.

_WAIT A MINUTE_ Freddie thought to himself, _Did I just "whoa" at Sam?! No way, I couldn't have… did I?_ But before this question could be answered, Carly and Sam said, "Thank you!" in unison.

"Wow, you guys look good!" Wendy said. "Jeez, should I have dressed up?"

"No!" carly immediately responded a bit nervously. "No you look great just like that! Besides he'll be here any minute…" Carly's voice trailed off, unsure of what she should say about their… new friend.

"Who?" Wendy inquired.

"Just…um…this kid we met," carly said, with every effort to not be specific.

"Yea," Sam affirmed, "Just this kid. He's like from Spain."

"Yea and we just thought it would be cool to like learn about people while we're here," Carly said a bit faster than normal in an attempt to cover up.

"Ok then," Wendy said, with a hint of disbelief in her voice. "So what are we gonna be doing? Freddie REFUSED to tell me anything specific." Wendy smiled and giggled slightly as she said this, and as she swayed on her feet elegantly, Sam could not help but notice, with a twinge in her eye, the way that Wendy's hand moved up Freddie's arm, which she had resting her hand on ever since she entered the room with him. Wendy might possibly have noticed this, for after about a second of Sam's stink eye she allowed her hand to drop to her side. There did not appear to be any hard feelings, however, for Wendy smiled at Sam when she passed her as she entered the room.

"Well, I got some snacks for us," Sam said, "And Freddie's pear-pod has some sick tunes, and so I figured we could just… chill out?"

"Sounds Cool!" Wendy said, as she and her friends let themselves into the room and explored the various chairs to sit in. As soon as Wendy sat down, and Sam began fiddling with Freddie's pear pod, there was a soft knock at the door.

Sam and Carly Looked at each other and squealed in unison, and the two of them rushed to the door and flung it open. Little to their surprise, Rico was leaning against the doorway with a coy smile on his face. What was to their surprise was the Carafe of wine he held in his hand, which he then outstretched to them and said, "_Feliz-- cómo se dice… _Housewarming?"

Sam accepted the bottle and said "Cool- what's this?"

Rico Giggled at them and said, "Wine, of course! It's an '83 merlot," and smiled sweetly at them. "Shall we have a toast?"

"Umm…" Carly frowned nervously, and then made her best attempt to plaster on a fake smile, but her nerves kind of shone through. "Actually, we're a little young to drink," she said, and took the bottle out of Sam's hand and placed it on the nearby end table. "Thanks anyways though! So, umm, can we interest you in any snacks?"

"Sure…" Rico said, dragging the word out a little and wearing his signature coy smile. He entered the room and sat down on the foot of Sam's bed, looking around the room. As soon as Wendy laid eyes on this stranger, she paused mid-word with whatever she was talking to Freddie about. She turned a full circle and leaned over to Rico to introduce herself, and he did the same to her, and as soon as Wendy had done so all of her friends suddenly felt the need to introduce themselves as well. Before Wendy's friend Shannon could introduce herself, however, Carly went over and sat down next to Rico, stealing the spot Shannon had planned to take.

"So Rico," Carly Said enthusiastically, as Shannon sulked away to seat herself next to Freddie, "Having fun so far?" Carly giggled flirtatiously as she said this. Sam noted the fact that shoving Shannon was a bit… edgier of a move than Sam was used to seeing in her as Rico gave some fluffy, predictable response to the question.

As the evening progressed, Rico learned everything about Carly and her friends, and he proceeded to tell them everything about himself. He learned about iCarly, their webshow, about Ridgeway high school, about their friendships and their histories and their family situations.

Carly and Friends Learned About Rico, about his great uncle Armancio who was among the wealthiest billionaires in all of Spain because of his high fashion clothing line, about how Rico enjoyed socializing with all of the rich and famous of Spain, all of whom were multilingual for business purposes and taught him English as a second language. They learned about how he discovered singing through talent shows at his rich uncle's business parties and took the job at the hotel because even though his family was very wealthy, they all believed in the theory of working your way up through the ranks in a business, and Rico had always thought it would be cool to own a hotel and was interested in the business. As they conversed, however, time flew by, and before they knew it, it was far too late for Rico to stay. Wendy and the others had left previously, and so it was just Sam, carly, Freddie, and Rico Left in the room at the time he announced he needed to head out. As Carly stood up, she gave him a long, warm hug, and thanked him profusely for attending their small get together. After Carly Was Done Hugging him, Sam took his hand and said, "would you like me to escort you to the door?"

Rico did his coy smile and said, "I would _love_ that."

Sam led him to the door and grabbed the untouched merlot off the end table, and when Rico opened the door, he led Sam out the door with him.

"So Samantha," Rico addressed her, as soon as the door had shut, and still hand in hand, Rico pulled her in close to him, as he leaned his back up against the wall and batted his eyelashes rapidly before making close, intense eye contact with Sam.

"Sam," he started slowly, with a pinch of hesitation in his voice, "Was it just me, or…" Sam looked into his eyes and his voice trailed off a little as she leaned in closer to him and said, "Yeah?" her voice raising in pitch and excitement.

"Was there… _cómo se dice… _a spark between us?"

Sam's eyes practically rolled into the back of her head as she flung her head back and inhaled deeply. "That…is an excellent question," she responded, trying an attempt at Rico's signature coyness. "Maybe… this will answer it?" and as she finished these words, she leaned kissed Rico. It was nothing overly passionate; just a simple lean in, and release. Rico Blushed furiously, eyes fluttering and his gaze downward, and then he leveled his head and stared into Sam's eyes. "Are you busy tomorrow?" he whispered to her intimately.

Sam's head ran through All of the plans she had with her school for the day; the bus rides her school had planned to take them all around to see all the sights, to the Spanish chain restaurant they were scheduled to eat lunch at, and the three hour seminary they were scheduled to attend which was to be given half in English, half in Spanish. She remembered seeing how busy the schedule looked, and how they were scheduled to leave at 10 in the morning, and arrive back at the hotel at 11 pm.

"Actually," Sam said, "I'm completely free all day long." She gave Rico another peck on the cheek, but he pulled away.

"I really need to head out…" he trailed out.

_And so, Rico and Sam made plans to have brunch together, and as Rico headed back towards the elevator, Sam watched him from the back and rolled her R's to herself. _


	6. Formalidades

"Sam," Carly repeated with exasperation in her voice, "Do you really expect Ms. Briggs not to notice you're skipping the whole day?"

"YES!" Sam repeated for the eighth time that morning, "Just stick to the plan and everything will be ok."

Carly sighed apprehensively. "Fine. Well, have fun on your date today!"

"Thanks," Sam said, as she and carly headed down to the lobby to meet Freddie and Rico.

After he left, Sam had called Rico later that night to tell him the plan they had come up with. Sam would stay in the lobby while Ms Briggs Called attendance, and then sneak off with Rico instead of boarding the bus for their daily activities. Rico met Sam and Carly with hugs at the lobby, and put his arm around Sam as Ms Briggs recited attendance. As soon as attendance was clear, Ms Briggs Directed everyone towards the bus, and in the commotion, Sam and Rico snuck out of view and hid behind a Decorative Plant. As soon as all the students had left, Sam and Rico watched through the glass doors of the hotel as the bus pulled out of the parking lot and into the busy streets of Barcelona.

"So," Sam asked with a sly grin on her face, "where will you be taking me today?"

Rico Smirked at her and said, "Out." They giggled and held hands as Rico led Sam through the parking lot to his car. He owned a metallic canyon red Lotus Elise with an Automatic Convertible Hard-top. Sam and Rico both headed towards the Right side of the car, until Sam realized that the passenger seat was on the other side! She blushed a little as Rico looked at her suspiciously, and she mumbled something about "not being used to cars" as she made her way around the back to the left side of the car. Sam flinched a little as she contorted and squeezed herself into the passenger seat of the tiny, European car. Rico arched an eyebrow at her and said, unassumingly, "Is something wrong?"

"No," Sam said falsely, "Nothing. I'm really excited!"

"Awesome," Rico said, as he turned on the car and peeled out of the hotel parking lot onto the left side of the street, which got on Sam's nerves significantly until she realized everyone was doing it, remembering that in Europe people drove on the opposite side of the road.

"You're awfully quiet today," Rico said inquiringly to Sam.

"Sorry," She said with a tone of embarrassment in her voice, "I'm just trying to get used to… like… everything is really different here," she finished lamely. "So where exactly ARE we going?" She said, trying to make up for her lack of anything interesting to say.

"To a downtown café," Rico said, "That will change your life. You like red meat, right?"

"More than anything!" Sam said, perking up instantly. "How did you know?"

"Lucky Guess," Rico responded smoothly. His coy smile shifted to a warmer one and said, "I know you're going to love this place." And before Sam knew it, they had pulled up to the café, which was located on the second floor of the building they arrived at. Rico led Sam through the doorway and up an elevator to a huge room with windows everywhere, an enormous glass ceiling, and cast iron tables with soft-looking high chairs. The hostess greeted them in Spanish, and Sam heard Rico say something she didn't understand, but caught the last word of the sentence, which was _ventana_.

The hostess said something along the lines of _"muy bien, por aqui," _and led them to a table at the far end of the room. Their table was the highest in the room, and Sam had to climb a little to get up onto her seat. Before she could wonder aloud why everything was so tall, however, she was struck by the gorgeous view out their Sparklingly Clear window. She could see all of Barcelona, with its skyscrapers; it's intersections in the roadways, the countless cars driving along the streets, and the countless Terracotta houses. For a few seconds, Sam just stared out the window, awestruck, until Rico said softly: "Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yea," was all Sam could muster, still staring at the seemingly endless sun-drenched scenery. After a few seconds more, Sam made an effort to wrench her head away from the view and focus on Rico. As she looked at him, she saw that he had already picked up his menu and began browsing. Sam did the same, only to find that she could not read any of the menu, for it was mostly in Spanish, and some of it in another unrecognizable language, which looked somewhat like Italian.

"Hey, umm…" Sam started to speak. "Is there any way I can get this in English?"

"Ay!" Rico looked up from his menu with a slightly shocked expression on his face, "I forgot that you guys aren't good with Spanish! Sorry, they only print the menu in Spanish and Catalan." Rico paused for a second, looking apologetic. "If you want, I could order for you?" He suggested.

Sam smiled. "That would be wonderful," she said, and put down her menu and Rico did the same. "Do you know what you want to drink?" he asked her.

"Umm… do they have peppy cola here?"

Rico paused for a second. "They only have diet peppy cola… is that ok?"

"Yea, it's fine," Sam said.

"Awesome," Rico said, pushing their menus to the side of the table. "So Sam… let's talk about you."

"Ok," Sam said in a tone of voice a bit softer than usual.

"So… you and Freddie…"

"Yea?" what about him?"

"I just wonder about you two. You guys are friends, clearly, but…you treat him like he is a dishrag?"

"Well…" Sam looked down for a second as her pitch dropped. "I mean, yea, that pretty much sums it up. He's a nice kid and everything, but, I don't know, I just… feel the need."

"Where does it come from?" Rico said, leaning forward and gazing intently into her eyes. "What?" Sam asked defensively. "The need," Rico replied calmly. "Where does it come from?"

"I, I… I can't explain it!" Sam shot back. She was not at all angry with Rico, but for some reason beyond her understanding her voice had shot up angrily. Before she could continue, however, their waitress came over to them and said something Sam did not follow. Before she could say anything, however, Rico gave her a short speech, which Sam also could not understand, although she caught the words "Peppy Cola" in there somewhere, and Rico handed the waitress both their menus.

Sam looked at Rico with interest. "What did you order for me?" Rico gave her his coyest smile yet and said, "It's a surprise. Why so soon to change the topic?" Sam looked out the window and sighed. "Idk," she responded, "he just…" Sam sighed, unable to finish her thoughts. "They way that he… UGH" Sam said, completely lost for words.

"Having second thoughts?" Rico asked her softly, abandoning the coyness for a soft, intimate, almost condescending but not in a rude way tone that you might hear from a psychologist.


	7. Nuestras Secretas

"Yes," Sam said, and gave a huge sigh. The word had shot out of her mouth before she could even think about it. "I mean…"

_God, what am I saying?!_ Sam thought to herself. _I never have second thoughts about anything… although…_ Sam thought back to the time when she had mortified Freddie on iCarly by releasing his secret that he had never kissed anyone. When Carly confronted her before the show, she had really set Sam straight, and ever since she had "Set Sam straight" it had become more and more difficult for Sam to pick on Freddie without her conscience punching her in the stomach.

Before Sam could elaborate, however, their food arrived. "Wow, that was fast," Sam said, and the waitress gave her a blank smile and blinked at her a few times. Rico gave her a quick _"Gracias" _and she headed away.

"He likes you," Rico said abruptly, as soon as the waitress left. Sam looked up from the veal Saltimbocca she had just been served into Rico's eyes, and she immediately identified how serious he was. "He really wants to be your friend," Sam attempted to blink and look away, but she had no power over the force that pulled her into Rico's intense gaze. "But he's scared of you. That's why he tries to be friendly, but he never actually gets too close."

"How do you…" Sam started to ask, but she found herself unable to speak, as if her voice had been sucked into the same swirling vortex that kept a cast iron grip on Sam's gaze.

"Just by watching," Rico said, his face regaining its sly expression, and his voice softening up to its natural self.

"So," He continued, his light, carefree attitude regained, "I have a surprise for you guys tomorrow night!"

"Ooh, a surprise?" Sam asked inquisitively. Rico toyed with his lobster a little as he said, "Tomorrow night; I'm going to dedicate a song to You, Carly, And Freddie!"

"Wow," Sam said, unable to hide that his response was not what she expected.

"I know, right!" Rico said, unable to hide his excitement. "You guys each just made SUCH… an _impression_ on me! I thought it would be really cool."

"Yea," Sam smiled, her tone of voice lightening up significantly. "I'm sure it will be. What song are you going to dedicate to me?"

Rico bore his coyest smile yet. "Another surprise," he said, piling some lobster into his mouth. "But I think you guys will find them interesting. The theme of the night will be like, conflicts we face."

Sam was unsure how to react; that sounded like something her wackjob psychiatrist would say, and she realized that if it had came out of Freddie's mouth instead of Rico's, she would have belittled the idea. And yet, the way Rico made eye contact with her as he stated his plans made her want to trust him.

"Sounds cool…" She said, unsure weather or not she meant it. "Yea... we'll deff be there."

"Cool," Rico said, smiling warmly at her as they finished of their meals.

As soon as they were done, the waitress came over and cleaned their plates for them, then giving them two cups of decaf and their check. Rico pulled out his wallet and placed his debit card in the leather bill holder, and pushed it to the side of the table.

"You have a credit card?!" Sam asked incredulously, eyeing the bill in disbelief.

"Debit," Rico corrected her with an affectionate smirk on his face.

Sam returned her gaze to him. Looking into his eyes deeply, she snaked her arm across the table and held his hand in hers, and asked softly, "Do you wanna do this again sometime?"

Rico smiled warmly at her, but did not speak; he surveyed her for a few seconds, and let out a sigh. "I don't think I can do that," he said, with a tinge of regret, but still firmly.

Sam looked confused. She WAS confused. "But…I thought we had a great time?"

Rico smiled at her, still holding her hand. "We did," he said, as gently as he possibly could, "But… I can't keep doing this to you." Sam still did not understand. "Sam, this has been fun and everything, but…" He sighed deeply, looking strongly into her eyes, "I think you know what I mean when I say;" and here he paused again, taking a deep breath, and Sam doing the same. "I'm not the boy singing the blues that you're really after."

Sam did not want to believe it, but again, her gaze was held by Rico's iron fist and for a reason beyond her own understanding her mind had no choice but to put trust in his word. This word, which she had only known for two days now, but seemed to be able to read her mind like the pages of the book, that spilled all the dirty secrets she was afraid to even think about.

"Freddie," she heard herself say. The way she said it seemed, nonchalant, with a certain tonality that almost suggested some subtle form of boredom or annoyance. And yet, when the word sounded within her mind, it was the complete opposite; it was a storm crashing upon the shore of her consciousness, it was a billion different languages and a million different colors. It was everything she wanted to hear in a word and nothing she expected. There could only be one word that made her feel this way, and that word was sitting through some bilingual seminar or something about linguistics just a few short Spanish kilometers away, doubtlessly focusing on something other than linguistics, probably technology or something. It was Freddie.

"I can tell that you don't want to," Rico said, grounding her thoughts back to real life, "But you need to let him know how you feel."

"What?" Sam spat in shock. "But how could I even begin to…"

"You just need to ease him into it," Rico said reassuringly. "You don't have to tell him everything at once. Like, one day you can tell him he looks nice, and the next day maybe you can tell him that, Idk, you want to have a serious conversation with him, and be like all, can we just set aside our differences?"

"He would never…" Sam began to say, but her voice trailed off. Rico was more than ready to correct her, but he allowed Sam to come to the conclusion herself. Sam looked down, dejected. "Yes. Yes he would."

Rico smiled at her approvingly. "Come on," he said, leaving a tip on the table and picking up his things. "Let's bust out of here."

Before they headed out of the restaurant, however, Sam held his hand, and looked into his eyes. She pulled him in for a hug, and inhaled deeply. No matter how closely she held him, there was nothing sexual about her charged emotions.

"Thank you," she said, softer than she had spoken that day. Rico just smiled at her, and led her out to the car.


	8. ¿Cómo se dice la verdad?

Sam watched, silently, as her classmates poured in through the doors of the hotel lobby. Hiding behind a plant again, she snagged Carly and Freddie out of the crowd as soon as she saw them. It was 10:30 at night, and Sam had just received a txt from Carly that they were arriving at the hotel and Sam should be ready to lie and say that she had attended all of the activities.

"How did it go," Sam whispered from behind the plant which the three of them were now hiding behind.

"Good," Carly and Freddie responded. "Believe it or not, Ms Briggs never suspected a thing. One time she was like, 'where's Sam?" but Wendy just like pretended to be you, and it was really crowded and noisy so Briggs couldn't tell the difference. How did things go with you?" Carly finished excitedly.

Sam recollected on the events of the day. _The date had started out a bit awkwardly, but we managed to make the most of it, until he somehow probed my thoughts and gave me a crash course psychiatric evaluation in like under a minute,_ she thought to herself with a hint of resentment.

"It was good," however, was he response.

"Coolness," Carly said enthusiastically. "You have to tell us EVERYTHING when we get back to the room."

"Ok, but first lets go over and make sure everything looks ok with Briggs."

"Ok," Carly and Freddie replied in hushed tones, and they crawled out of their tree and into the crowd of students. As they made their way through the crowd, they found Ms Briggs. The three of them checked in with her, and she told them they were all set, and so Sam and Carly Raced towards the elevator to head up to their room.

"You Coming, Freddie?" Carly asked, turning in his direction. Sam and Freddie locked eyes for a second, but Freddie quickly looked away, back to Carly. "Umm… actually, I think I'm going to… head back up to my room. I'm exhausted."

"Ok," Carly said, feeling disappointed. "Well, see you in the morning!"

"Bye Freddie," Sam said yelled at him as he left. She was surprised by how nice her voice sounded. Freddie shared her surprise, as he looked back, paused for a second, and then gave her a wave, before meeting up with Gibby to take the stairs up the extra floor. Carly Gave Sam a look as the elevator door closed in front of them. "That was odd," She said accusingly to Sam. "Since when do you and Freddie exchange friendly salutations?"

"I…" Sam started, but had no idea what a good response would be. Instead of finishing her sentence, she just shrugged. The elevator doors opened, and Sam and Carly ran down the hallway to their room, and as soon as they were in safe they slammed the door behind them and flung themselves on their adjacent beds.

"OMG you have to tell me everything!" Carly shouted, as she rolled over in bed. Sam, on the other hand, sat upright on the end of her bed, slouched over a little.

"It was okay," Sam began reluctantly. "We definitely had a good time…"

"…But?" carly finished for her.

"But we decided not to go out anymore. At least not in any romantic way." Carly Looked Disappointed. "Well, we just decided that it wouldn't make sense for us to get involved with each other since we live so far apart. I mean, who would really go for a long distance relationship from Spain to Seattle? It just wouldn't make any sense."

"Oh, that's too bad," Carly said. "I'm really sorry, Sam."

"No, its cool!" Sam said. "We're still going to hang out! Like as friends. But not as boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Well… ok," Carly said. "So, how far into the date did you guys decide that?" Carly tried to ask the question casually. Sam could tell she was fishing for some other bit of information, but she played along with Carly's little game.

"Towards the end," Sam said hesitantly.

"Did you guys…do anything before that?"

"Carly just spit it out!"

"OMG did you get to… touch anything?"

"WHAT?! CARLY!"

"I'm sorry!" Carly blushed as she said it. "I was just wondering… because…_sigh_…"

"Yea yea because he's AMAZING," Sam finished for her.

"So you guys didn't…"

"No," Sam said. "I don't even think we kissed once the whole time. Or maybe we did. I don't remember." It was the honest truth.

"Well, that's cool too. So what else did you guys talk about?"

"Well," Sam said, her demeanor brightening at the change of subject, "He says he has a surprise for us! Tomorrow night, during the show, he's going to dedicate one song each to you, me, and Freddie!"

"Wow, that's so cool! Did he say why?"

"Yea," Sam Responded, "He said we 'made such an impression on him' or something."

"For Real?!" Carly shouted, almost drooling at the idea of 'having made an impression' on her crush.

"Yea, but he wouldn't tell me what any of the songs are. That's the surprise. But they're supposed to like tie into our life stories or something like that…" Sam's voice trailed off for the billionth time that day.

"What's wrong," carly asked.

"I'm afraid…"

"Sam? Afraid? That's new," Carly said sarcastically, with a giggle to herself.

"Well… we talked on the date…about…Freddie," Sam finished nervously; looking over to see how carly would react.

"Ok…" carly replied curiously.

"He said… I know this sounds crazy, he said that Freddie wants to be my friend, that he likes me!"

"It's not crazy at all!" Carly replied indignantly. "In fact, I'm surprised you had to hear it from him to finally understand it!

Sam rolled her eyes. "So, we were talking and he said that… Freddie is scared of me, because I always push him away?"

Carly nodded. "Uh huh? Continue…"

"Well, and, we said, like, umm… I don't know how to say this…"

"Just spit it out," carly said, but not impatiently. "You know you can tell me anything, Sam."

"We said that… I like Freddie. Like, I'm romantically… interested… in him."

Carly's mouth hung open, unable to believe her ears. Sam: Fear? Sympathy? A _**CRUSH**_ on Freddie? It was all too much!

"Sam," Carly tried to form a sentence, but the words just didn't connect in her brain. "I… thaaaa… ehh……"

Sam looked at her. She was about to say something, until carly found it in herself to form words.

"How…Long?"

Sam took a deep breath, and then smiled to herself. "That was my question for a while, too," she said, with a hint of the signature coyness that was so popular with Rico.

"Sam I'm serious!" Sam sighed again. "Ever Since that… incident… a while back… when I told everyone on iCarly that Freddie never kissed anyone… you know the story… except for what happened on the fire escape."

"What happened?" Carly Asked impatiently. Sam Sighed again. "Sam I NEED TO KNOW!"

"Fine," Sam said reluctantly. "The story goes a little something like this…"


	9. Confusiónes y Confesiones

_I can't believe I'm actually doing this. Am I actually doing this? _Sam mulled these questions over in her mind, but did so as fast as she possibly could for she was under the expectant gaze of her best friend. A few things, however, were clear: Whether Sam liked it or not, she and Freddie were friends; Sam had promised Freddie she would never speak of it again; and friends don't break promises. _Here we go again,_ Sam thought to herself, her mind working double time to fabricate a believable lie that would explain what she was going through. "It all started," Sam began apprehensively, "When I knocked on the window, and Freddie," she paused. She remembered exactly what he had done, he had looked at her for a moment, and then looked back over the city remaining expressionless, wordlessly beckoning her to join him. "He … I went out on the balcony or fire escape or whatever it was." Sam knew exactly what it was; it was the southeast fire escape of the eighth floor, and incidentally the best one to take as it was closest directionally to the fire station, and most convenient to jump out of in one of those giant trampoline situations. "Then he went over and… fiddled with his pear pod, or something. Whatever." Sam still could not get out of her head the opening verse to the song Running Away by AM, which Freddie had turned down the volume to but not fully shut off before they shared their conversation, and Sam still recalled the chorus spilling over the balcony melodically as they shared their feelings, and a kiss. "And then I offered him a meatball."

"A Meatball?!" Carly shot back indignantly. "Sam, I am asking you to take this seriously!"

"It really happened!" It did really happen, but for the first time Sam did not remember why or anything like that.

"Well what happened after the meatball?" Sam sighed, making her best efforts to remember, and then to subsequently 'misremember.' How would Carly react if Sam told the truth? It was not worth finding out, Sam told herself, as she had decided to keep her promise to Freddie.

"Well, he told me that he had seen what I said on the web cast; about how I never kissed anyone." Sam realized how much Freddie's smile reminded her of Rico's as he held up his laptop and said to her, reassuringly: _"You didn't think I would miss iCarly, did you?"_

"And then, I… apologized to him. I told him I was sorry." _What do I say next? _Sam inquired furiously of herself. _I can't tell the truth. But I already have so far. Shit! _"He… forgave me?" Sam realized what she had to say next, but it was about to go against everything she had tried to convince carly of for the past 2 months since the kiss.

"I told him… the only reason I picked on him was because… I like him. Because we are friends, and that's how I show my…**friendly** affection for him," she finished, stressing the **friendliness** between her and Freddie. 

"GODDAMMIT Sam!" Carly yelled, half jokingly, half with genuine exasperation. "I've been trying to tell you that for the past…years, or something, and you're always like all; 'I could never be friends with that nub!' Gosh, it's about time you figured out that you to are friends! Why were you ever mean to him in the first place?! He always tries to be nice to you, why did you have to go and screw it up by bullying him?"

Sam now had to face the one word that she dreaded even more than "kiss." This would easily be the most painful thing she had ever had to say, but imagined Rico's voice in her ear: _"If you don't admit it out loud, you will never come to terms with it, never move past it, never enjoy what potential lies ahead." _Sam sucked in as much air as she could, and almost felt like she was choking, and her voice box, which had constricted noticeably, squeaked out the word she had denied and pushed down for years:

"Jealous." Carly looked at her in astonishment. "Because I'm jealous of him. The exact same way I'm jealous of Melanie, and even sometimes of you." Carly's jaw hung as she looked at Sam with more surprise than she had ever felt in her life.

"You…" Carly attempted to speak, "Sam… jealous… admitted?" Carly stopped attempting to speak, and instead embraced Sam fiercely, head on her shoulders, eyes tearing up. This was a true best friend moment if she had ever had one.

Sam raised Carly's head and looked into her eyes with an innocent puppy dog look that carly had never seen Sam wear before. "Promise you won't tell?"

Carly looked at Sam. She plucked up as much courage as she could, looked into Sam's eyes, and did what she felt was for Sam's own good. "I'm not going to tell," Carly said, making every attempt to sound confident, "Because you're going to tell him yourself."

Sam began to protest, like a little kid would to her mother, but carly cut her off: "I know this is going to be difficult for you, so I can soften him up first… that is, if you want?" Carly half stated, half asked, continuing her attempt to sound confident.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"You know, I can sit him down for you and say something like, 'Sam wants to tell you something important, if you don't take her seriously I'll beat your ass?'"

Sam smiled. "Carles, you're my best friend." The fact that she was still holding out on carly about her first kiss with Freddie failed to continue registering on Sam's conscience as she embraced carly, and the two best friends preserved forever in their memories of one of the most intimate moments of emotion-sharing they would ever experience.

"After the show," Sam said. "Tomorrow. We can sit Freddie down and… we can all share our feelings."

"Cool," Carly said, wiping tears out of her eyes, and Sam doing the same. Sam giggled nervously. "Look at us," she said, "Sitting here just crying." She laughed again.

"I think it's time we go to bed now," Carly stated, with a brief look at the clock. It was a bit later than either of them had expected; apparently their heart to heart was a bit more time consuming than they realized. Carly tucked herself into bed, and Sam got off the bed to get into her own.

"Goodnight Sam," Carly said, with one last smile towards her best friend for life.

"Goodnight Carly," Sam responded as she turned off the lights, and tried her hardest to get some sleep. As hard as she tried, however, fear and anticipation kept welling up inside of her regarding the confession that she had no choice but to make tomorrow, to Freddie, whom she no longer wanted to just push around and abuse. For the first time in her life, she wanted to have a relationship with Freddie, not just take advantage of him. And endlessly, painfully, and almost eerily, the song Running Away by AM haunted her thoughts, and even when she did fall asleep, the chorus played on repeat in the background of her dream.

_**DREAM SEQUENCE:**_

"_Where is the music coming from?"_

_San ran up to Rico and interrogated him. Freddie was running behind her, trying to catch up. Rico stood still in front of Sam. "I don't have it," he said, speaking down to her like a child. Freddie was gaining on them. "Quick," she said, "Run away!" "Why are you running away, Sam?" Rico asked her inquisitively, looking down upon her and smiling. "Where is the music?" Sam repeated impatiently. "I don't have the music, Sam," Rico responded calmly. "But I think you know who does." Sam looked around and saw Freddie behind her, out of breath from running. The music was coming from him. They both wore shocked expressions on their faces, but before either of them could say anything, Sam woke up. _


	10. Entreacto

Carly, Sam, and Freddie sat together at their table at the hotel bar. They were all aware that Rico had planned on dedicating songs to them tonight. Freddie was aware, having been told by Carly, that Sam had something she wanted to talk to him about after dinner. Carly was aware that among other things about her, Sam's feelings towards Freddie had changed as time went on. Sam was aware that, against her will, she had fallen in love with Freddie, and if she did not act quickly, she ran the risk of pushing him away forever, and spending the rest of her life wondering what could have been.

Rico finished the song he was on, Just Friends by Amy Winehouse, and squinted into the audience, soon locating the iCarly table. The four of them made eye contact, and he smiled at them from the stage.

"Up next," He began, "I want to do something different for my audience." His ever-present coy grin appeared on his face. "Recently, I have met three new friends who have made a HUGE impact on me, so I want to take some time and dedicate a song to each of them."

He looked directly at Carly, and softened his gaze a bit. "This song is for a young woman, sitting among us tonight, just like any other. It could be any woman. She dresses like everyone else, does as well in school, uses the same slang… But she knows she is something more.

"But she wonders… is she wrong to do what she does? To climb the ranks? To take advantage of those who are willing? To get what she wants no matter what it takes? She begins to second guess now, to wonder if she is doing well on the eternal test of choosing between what is right, and what is easy. This song is called Gold Dust Woman, by Fleetwood Mac."

**---AUTHOR'S NOTE: If you like, listen while reading! www(DOT)imeem(DOT)com/artists/fleetwood_mac/music/cjKCAAQS/christine-mcvie-gold-dust-woman-lp-version/**

A slow, melodic beat, like a metronome, struck up, and increased in bravado. Other instruments began to include themselves, including acoustic guitar and a mysterious percussion instrument

_Rock on, gold dust woman  
Take your silver spoon  
And dig your grave  
_

Carly Sank a little into her seat as the lyrics ringed through her ears. Gold Dust Woman? What did that mean?

_Heartless challenge  
Pick your path and I'll pray  
Wake up in the morning  
See your sunrise loves to go down  
Lousy lovers- pick their prey  
But they never cry out loud  
_

The Beat Picked up a little, and Carly's mouth unwittingly hung open as she listened powerlessly to the melody that Rico spun from the stage as he hit the Chorus of the song.

_  
Did she make you cry  
__make you break down  
Shatter your illusions of love  
Is it over now? Do you know how  
to pick up the pieces and go home?  
_

Carly Squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. _What is this all about? Is this about Freddie? Why did Rico care about Freddie so much all of a sudden anyways? Who cared about…? _Carly stopped her thoughts in their tracks as she realized she was getting too caught up in a song. She still could, however, feel something squirming inside her; the need to defend herself, indignance, and overpowering guilt.

_  
__Rock on ancient woman  
Follow those who pale in your shadow_

_Rulers make bad lovers  
you better put your kingdom up for sale_

_Well, did she make you cry,  
Make you break down,  
Shatter your illusions of love?  
And now, tell me, is it over now? Do you know how  
to pick up the pieces and go home?_

Carly could not help thinking about Freddie as the music slowly died off, and Rico stayed on stage softly repeating some mantra of a few words including "Gold," "Shadow," and "Woman." How many times had she made Freddie feel that way? How many times had she hurt his feelings, betrayed his trust, taken advantage of him, even humiliated him? Her stomach growled and she chewed at her fingernails. She looked over nervously at Freddie, who was still watching Rico with interest. Carly felt obliged to do the same, only to be met with Rico's direct, penetrating gaze.

The audience applauded generously as soon as his stirring, intimate performance was done. He bowed graciously and waved his thanks to the audience. He walked back to the Mic and took it, and spoke in his normal speech voice again.

"Thank you. This Next Song is for another young woman in this audience tonight," and here he paused to smile at Sam. "This song is about a phenomenon that occurs when it is not clear whether or not you know how you feel about someone. How does one respond to this situation? Do you utilize physical or psychological intimidation? Do you refuse to answer questions? Do you push away the people who have the most to offer to you because you are afraid of what they have to offer? This song is about being afraid to be in love. The name of this song is Scared of You, By Nelly Furtado."

**---Author's Note: Care to listen? The second part of the song is Portuguese, for anyone who's wondering. www(DOT)imeem(DOT)com/artists/nelly_furtado/music/CuTKjFhm/nelly-furtado-scared-of-you/**

Rico winked at Sam from atop his stage and a classical beat struck up, including piano and harp. He took the center stage again.

_I'm sorry if I forsake you  
I'm sorry that I left you  
I'm sorry I did forget you _

After this line, the music trailed off, and then replaced itself with a slightly faster, but still very intimate, tropical sounding beat.

_And I'm sorry that I made myself feel better  
By making you feel never good enough  
I know you'll shine much brighter than I ever could  
Maybe that is why I was_

_Scared of you _

_(And in everything I do I'm still thinking of you) oh, you  
And I know you were scared of me _

_(but every time I tried to love you I just  
fell through) too  
__  
__Desculpa-me se te-ofendi  
Desculpa-me se te-esqueci  
Desculpa me se-eu te-deixei  
Eu te-deixei  
E desculpa-me por mi sentir bem com tua dor  
Sabes que te-adore mais sei que tu estrela a maior do que minha,  
E por isso  
Eu tenho medo deste amor (os dias passo pensando en ti) amor  
Medo deste amor (Salve-me porque agora estou caindo) amor_

Sam did not need a translation to understand what the lyrics meant. She looked over at Freddie, his facial expressions impossible to read as he stared at Rico upon the stage. She thought back on all the times she had been too scared to let Freddie into her life, how many times she head hurt him, how many times she had lashed out at him when all she wanted was to embrace him and be told by him that everything would be ok.

_I was Scared of you, my friend,_

_Scared of you, my, my friend,_

_Scared of you, I was, I was,_

_So Scared of you_

The Mantra Repeated endlessly in Sam's head, though it ended after about a minute on stage. Why had she let her jealousy of Freddie always get the best of her? Because she was afraid of him? God, they had a lot to talk about tonight.

Rico winked at Sam again as the song finished and he received more applause. He returned to his friendly grin and spoke normally into the Mic again. "Wow, thank you guys! I was actually kinda worried about that song because I thought it would be out of my vocal range, but it was really important that I get the right song for a certain someone in this audience." He smiled At Sam from the stage for a second, and then returned to his speech.

"So to wrap up the night, I have one last song that I want to dedicate tonight. This song is for another good friend of mine who is sitting among us tonight. This song is about how it doesn't take too much to leave one feeling lost and alone. About how things can sneak up behind you. About how you're not ready for the things that happen and sometimes you don't even know what they are. If you've ever said, 'I don't want to talk about it.' This one is for you, buddy," He finished with a smile and a quick glance at Freddie. "This song is called Running Away, By AM."

**---Update: I uploaded this song to Imeem! http://www(DOT)imeem(DOT)com/people/WarKS9/music/uZfgCYV_/am-running-away/**

The beat of the song struck up, and Sam and Freddie nervously shot involuntary glances at each other, locking eyes for a second, and then looking away. Who could forget that this was the very song to which they experienced their kiss together? It had to be a coincidence! There was no way Rico could have known-

_Did I tell you I knew your name?  
But it seems that I've lost it  
_

Sam's thoughts paused as the first line of the song ran away from Rico's mouth and into Sam's heart.

_Did I tell you it's my own game?  
This is not your problem  
I don't know if I'm gonna change  
Wasting time and another day_

_I keep running away  
Even from the good things  
I keep running away  
Even from the good things_

She felt like she was having a stroke as the repetitive lines of the chorus washed over her like waves of water. The chorus, she recalled, was the part of the song that had been playing when they kissed. Little to her knowledge, Freddie was feeling the exact same way at the exact same time. The two tried their best not to glance over at each other and enjoy the song, but they could not hold down the feelings that were simultaneously welling up inside of them

_  
__Did I tell you it's not that bad  
Sitting over here dreaming  
did I tell you I'm right on track?  
This time I mean it_

_I don't know if I'm gonna change  
Wasting time and another day_

Listening to the lyrics the way Rico spun them, Freddie's interpretation of the song changed slightly. He thought upon his previous struggles with depression, and how he could not even talk to his mom about it. Not his mom, not Carly, not Spencer, and definitely not Sam. He wondered why he could never trust anyone. Why he kept running away.

_  
__I keep running away  
Even from the good things  
I keep running away  
Even from the good things_

Rico finished the song, and the melodic, peaceful beat seemed to drift away of its own accord. Sam and Freddie, Refusing to look at each other, wore brave faces as on the inside they were both ready to burst into tears if anyone so much as poked them.

The Audience applauded once again for Rico, and he said "Thank you" repeatedly, and waved out to the audience. "Thank you, everyone, and good night!"


	11. Dolores y Secretas Guardadas Parte 1

There they were, sitting together, alone, in a hotel room. There was so much that had to be said, Sam did not even know where to begin. She was brimming with emotions and thoughts; she wanted to tell Freddie about how she had not been able to stop thinking about the kiss, and when she heard their song just recently, she thought she was going to throw up, or bitch slap the nearest person, or both. She realized that she had just called it "Their Song" and prepared to be the bitch slap victim in question. She wanted to confess to Freddie how jealous she was of him, and that was the reason why she endlessly tormented him. Why she took such a sadistic pleasure in his pain, time and time again, until just recently, when the pleasure started dying out, fading, to be replaced by an overwhelming onus of guilt. She recalled a song that Rico had sang on the first night, "Something's Got a Hold on Me," By Etta James, and how she felt like her life had become a dark, backwards, twisted version of the story the song told.

_I get a feeling that I never, never had before  
And I got to tell you right now  
I believe, I really do believe that  
Something's got a hold on me_

Day and night, Sam could not bring herself to comprehend this strange force that had a hold on her, only accept it's ominous, mysterious presence, and it's partial control over her thoughts and emotions.

_Let me tell you now  
I never felt like this before  
Something's got a hold on me that won't let go  
I believe I'd die if I only could  
I sure feel strange, but I sure feel good_

Did Sam enjoy the force that had a hold on her? She recalled an instance a while back, when Freddie was being harassed by some other kids. Usually, Sam was the one to jump in and play conductor to this frenzy, but watching the kids in question, she had felt so tempted to go over there and attack them. All she could do, for fear of her own actions and consequences, was stand and watch from a distance

_I got a feeling, I feel so strange  
Everything about me seems to have changed  
Step by step, I got a brand new walk  
I even sound sweeter when I talk  
I said, Oh yeah  
It must be love_

Every time she saw Freddie with another girl, she started to slouch a little, and the last time she and Freddie had talked, she had been so incapable of saying something rude to him she felt incapacitated. She even vaguely remembered complimenting his hair. She could not, would not, accept that she was falling in love with Freddie. But it was happening whether she accepted it or not.

"Sam, what did you want to tell me?" Freddie asked her inquiringly. His tone of voice seemed fairly normal, but Sam saw in his facial expression how depressed he was feeling. This question brought Sam back to her primary thought: _Where to begin?_

"Just hear me out," Sam said quickly, a little nervously. Freddie nodded and she continued. "What if, just for once, we had a conversation? And I mean, like, we pretend, just for this conversation, that we don't hate each other, that we never have; like we can just talk the way either of us can with carly."

Freddie looked at her solemnly, and corrected her: "I don't hate you, Sam."

Sam was dumbfounded by the statement. Now matter how many times she had heard it from Carly, from Spencer, from Wendy, even from Rico, who seemed to know her better than anyone else, For some reason the impact of the statement coming from the man in question himself was more powerful than all the times she had heard it before, and it was nothing that Sam was ready for.

"So, then, yes? We can… just talk?"

Freddie sighed. "If that's what you want." He half expected Sam to give him a wedgie at any moment, but he recalled what Carly had told him before sending him into this figurative verbal death trap; that Sam had something important to say, that she wanted to be taken seriously, and that she really meant it.

"I'm sorry," She mumbled, looking down and away.

"Is that all?" Freddie asked, before he could think of what he was saying. Sam looked up at him, forlornly. "I mean," Freddie tried to cover quickly, immediately regretting what he had said. He sighed. "I didn't mean it like that. It's just that, you know… when we," he looked around to make sure no one could hear him, then looked back at Sam, leaned in close, and whispered, "_when we did the first kiss thing,_" or so he called it, "You already went through this whole apology thing." He looked at Sam, and the disappointed look she gave him wracked him with guilt. Endless guilt, stockpiling atop his mind: just what he needed. These days, it seemed every negative emotion perceptible by the human mind had gotten its way into Freddie's mind. In the beginning, he had convinced himself that if he just ignored the bad feelings, it would cause them to go away, and he truly believed it would help if he pretended for everybody that he was perpetually happy. It was all so innocent in the beginning: just a little white lie here and there, just a brief "My day was good, how was yours?" in passing to fill in the gaps. But it grew. He had become so attached to the lies that they had started to control him. They had grown out of control, and if he did not act out his three ring circus repeatedly then people would be able to spot the lies when they saw them, and they would all fall apart. If he did not quench the thirst that the lies felt, they would eat him alive. It was a symbiotic hunger for death and destruction. _Which is why I have to lie right now,_ Freddie thought to himself, knowing that he had to lie, that he had to keep everything he had just thought about to himself, because if he did not respond to the situation at hand, then he would hurt Sam's feelings.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean it like that, I really didn't-"

"It's ok," Sam said dejectedly, and got up to walk towards the door. Just in time, however, Freddie Stepped in front of her, and backed up towards the door to block it off, saying the word "No!" a bit louder than he had intended.

They locked eyes as Sam stood before him, but she broke the connection by looking a little to the right before saying, "Out of my way, nub," nonchalantly.

"No," Freddie replied adamantly, and his firm tone of voice commanded Sam's attention against her will. "You wanted to have a serious conversation, and that means a lot to me." His voice softened a bit as he continued, "I DO want to talk."

"But how can I always-" Sam started to argue, but she stopped herself dead in her tracks, as she realized she was about to go back to her old behavior: assuming that Freddie hated her, that he wanted to be better than her.

"I'm sorry," She said again, and this time Freddie had no response for her.

"That I always assume you're out to get me. I," she looked into Freddie's eyes, not wanting to continue, but knowing that she had to. "It's because I'm jealous of you. That's why I lash out at you."

Freddie was completely lost for words. Before he knew what he was doing, he stepped forward and embraced Sam suddenly, for a gut feeling told him that if he did, this would be one of the rare times she would welcome him; and his gut feeling was right, as Sam wrapped her arms up and around his back and place her hands on his shoulders.

"Is there… anything you would like to tell me?" She asked inquiringly, feeling that she needed to return the favor Freddie had provided her. "And no matter what it is, I'll be totally supportive. I promise." She looked into his eyes as she said these words, holding him at arm's length.

Freddie's head swirled with the incalculable plethora of depressions, anxieties, and lies that burdened his mind.

"And you promise to be totally supportive?"

Sam held back her tears as she nodded solemnly, her eyes locked with Freddie's, her arms slowly lowering and dragging them closer together without either of them noticing. Freddie sighed anxiously, and said, quietly, "There is one thing…"


	12. Dolores y Secretas Guardadas Parte 2

Freddie thought of all of the things he could tell Sam. Of his struggles with his emotions, his social life, the changes that had started initiating themselves and corrupting his mind; all of it._ But, _he thought to himself, _she can never know. Or else…_ he did not know what else. It was impossible to explain what else. But he knew that what else existed. The one thing he did feel comfortable discussing with Sam, ironically, was his attraction to Carly. Lately, however, it had become so confusing that his attraction to Carly was sharing the spotlight with his newfound attraction to Sam, but of course he could never tell her that. What he did know, however, was that Sam was quite familiar with his attraction to Carly, and that she had just promised to be supportive of whatever he said.

"You know that 'rooftop party' that Rico invited us to?"

"Yea," Sam said, and a brief feeling of excitement stung her as she recalled what was supposedly the hippest and most exclusive social event in all of Catalonia, which they would be attending as guests of Rico's.

"Well, earlier, Carly kept babbling on about how romantic the party was supposed to be, and… I was thinking of asking her to go… as my date." He sighed. "I mean, I don't even know if we're supposed to bring dates, and I was a little worried that It might be awkward since you and Rico weren't going as a couple," He said, looking at her nervously, not wanting to touch a nerve with Sam over her breakup with Rico, "But, I just thought it would be like, the perfect time for Carly and I to get together. I know that she hasn't been interested in… however many years," another thing he did not want to talk about, "but, Carly and I have both changed a lot over the years, physically and mentally. I just have a gut feeling that now would be the perfect time," he finished, a little abruptly.

It was a little ironic that Freddie had been so reluctant to risk touching a nerve with Sam, seeing as what he just said had ripped her heart out and shot it down in an icy blaze. Perhaps she had not have trusted Freddie, should not have wanted him to open up to her. For the feeling of love that had started growing inside her was a vulnerable and needy creature, and without the proper diet and exercise, the pain that it felt was felt throughout all of Sam's body, and as she felt this pain dripping down her like ice water, she wondered if she would ever be able to feel love again.

"What do you think," Freddie asked innocently, temporarily pulling Sam away from her thoughts. "Is it a good idea?" He asked her openly, remembering her promise to be supportive.

"I…" Sam was lost for words. She was so tempted to tell the truth, to tell him that she did not want him to ask carly, that she wanted him to ask her. That if he had to ask carly one more time, it would drive a stake through her heart to be in love with someone who was unable to return the favor. She remembered her promise, however, to be supportive, and she knew she had to lie again, to figure out something diplomatic to say; some custom blend combination lie consisting of a little truth, a little of something that Sam knew Freddie would want to hear, and a little bit of trying to convince Freddie against his attraction to Carly, and, if possible, it would be the icing on the cake if she could drop a hint regarding how she felt about him.

"I don't know," she said, as for once in her life her brain simply did not have the capacity to take in all of these aspects and fabricate a lie that met all of the standards of her situation. "Honestly, you've grown a lot, and so has Carly, and she doesn't really talk about weather or not she likes you at all," (Here Sam winced, painfully recalling the last time she had tried to discuss that conversation with carly,) "So honestly, anybody's guess is as good as mine."

The guilt consumed Sam anew; she had poured her heart out to Freddie, and he had been as supportive as one could be; but no sooner had he done the same to her than she simply dodged his feelings and gave him an icily ambiguous response. She had no time to ponder this guilt, however, because in form to truly typical Sam selfishness, as her mother called it, she was more concerned with how to deal with the news that Freddie was still more interested in Carly.

"We should head to bed," Sam said, indicating the clock. It was past ten o'clock.

"Yea," Freddie said lamely, unable to hide his disappointment with Sam's "Supportiveness," or so she claimed it would be. God; if she wasn't going to really be supportive, why did she say that she would. She made no sense. As Sam headed for the door, however, Freddie said, "Hey!" and she turned around to face him, hand on the doorknob. He smiled at her warmly, as he remembered doing just a few short months ago on a certain fire escape, and said to her, genuinely, and a bit softer than he had intended, "I don't hate you."

Sam smiled back at him, this novel phrase hitting her for the second time that night, and she too recalled that moment on the fire escape, when things had seemed so different. "I don't hate you too," she said, weakly but sincerely, and smiled at him one last time before she headed out the door and into the vacant hallway.

"So what do I do?!" Sam asked, almost shouted, frantically to the only ear she could trust these days. She had called Rico up in the dead of night to explain to him everything that had happened; about how she wanted Freddie but Freddie still wanted Carly, and Freddie was seemingly oblivious to her feelings for him. Sam's feelings were slightly alleviated, however, as she swore she could hear Rico's coy smile through the phone as he said quietly but seriously, "I have a plan."

Sam's eyes narrowed and she grinned a little as she felt her anxieties begin to wash away. "What, what is it?!" She asked excitedly.

"But first," Rico said hesitantly, "I need to know that you are completely comfortable with dangerously toying with people's emotions, engaging in activities that your friends might not appreciate, and hoping for the best but expecting the worst." None of these things had ever been a problem for Sam before and they certainly wouldn't be now. "Please, that's just a day in the life for me," Sam replied coolly. Rico grinned mischievously over the other end.

"OK, step one: You need to ENCOURAGE Freddie to ask Carly." Sam rolled her eyes. That was the exact opposite of what she wanted to happen! "How is that supposed to help?!" She blurted out indignantly.

"Just hear me out!" Rico said hastily. "You need to be as sweet as possible to him, kind of suck up to him a little! Tell him EVERYTHING he wants to hear, really boost his self confidence. THEN, Step Two: Before he asks Carly to be his date, I'M going to ask her!"

Sam's doubts about Rico's plan were completely blasted out of the water as she waited with anticipation for Rico to finish the plan, although she wondered if it was necessary for him to do so because she could see fair well where it was going.

"Step three: If you can manage to get Freddie excited enough about going with Carly, he will be DEVASTATED when she turns him down. Which is EXACTLY why you are going to be his rebound!" Rico finished happily, admiring his own brilliant mind.

"I LOVE IT!" Sam could not contain her excitement regarding the plan. "But wait… what if Carly doesn't accept you invitation to be your date?" Rico could not contain his egocentric ways any longer. "Umm… _cómo se dice_; I wouldn't worry about it if I was you."

Sam giggled on the other end. "Ok, I won't," she said with a little sarcasm in her voice. Then she smiled, and said sincerely, "Thanks again for helping me out with this."

"_De Nada_," Rico responded to her reassuringly. "Goodnight Sam; you're going to need it if you really want to put the plan in action tomorrow."

Sam smiled on the other end. "Goodnight Rico."


	13. Doble Filo

Sam awoke the next morning to her alarm clock playing easily one of her favorite songs to wake up to in the morning; "Inside your heaven." Not many people knew that Sam was a country fan, but if you knew her well enough you could probably guess, and besides, it is easy to enjoy the musical stylings of Carrie Underwood even if you don't like country music. None of this was important to Sam, however, as all she could think about upon waking up was Freddie, and how she would initiate the surefire plan that Rico had proposed to get them together. At this point, Sam was beyond denying that she loved Freddie, beyond pretending to be disgusted by him, but not yet beyond lying to him, for she new that in the end he would be thankful for what was to happen to them.

"Aghh, Turn that goddamn country music off!" Carly exclaimed at Sam from her bed. Sam rolled her eyes, and silently commented to herself that Carly was really growing into her bitchiness as she pressed the "Stop" button on the Alarm clock. Sam looked at her cell phone, and with relish checked her "_1 new txt from RRico,_" still too lazy to fix the spelling of his name in her caller ID. She flipped open the phone groggily and held it close enough to her eyes to read: "I am going to talk to Carly at 11:00 this morning; all I will need is a half hour ;). Don't forget the plan"

And believe me, she hadn't. Sam knew now that she had to employ all of the skills, talents, the art, if you will, of deception in which she was so well trained, with so many years of experience and honing this art under her belt. It was time to lie to Freddie. As if it was something new to her.

"We still doing breakfast at 10:30, Carles?" Sam asked casually. As soon as they were done eating, Rico could swoop in and meet them there, and Sam could silently disappear, leaving Rico to seduce Carly while she ran off to pretend to be Freddie's cheerleader.

"Yea," Carly said, looking at the clock. "Just lemme get ready real quick and we can head out."

"Awesome," Sam said; out loud she had said it just as normally and flatly as she would say any other word, but in her mind, she had never thought a word more enthusiastically.

* * *

"_We're sitting at table 5,"_Sam surreptitiously txted Rico under the table as Carly wolfed down a biscuit. 8 seconds passed, not that Sam was counting or anything, until she received a reply from Rico: _"Good, I can see you from here." _Sam grinned evilly as she read the txt, closed it out, and checked the time: 10:52 AM. Sam temporarily regretted ending it with Rico, for it was incredible how enamored she was of his Mind-Blowing hidden ability to devise evil plans on less than a moment's notice. Carly sighed. "I'm full." Sam looked at the clock again. 10:54. She sent Rico a txt containing only two capital letter R's; it had been their code word if Sam decided she had found the perfect time for Rico to work his magic other than 11 am. No more than 30 seconds passed before Rico had magically appeared beside their table, wearing easily the most flattering outfit Sam had seen on him yet, and smiling coyly like there was no tomorrow.

"Hello, Ladies," he said, and for a second Sam did not recognize his voice, for he had adjusted it to sound deeper and more mature.

"Hey, Rico!" Carly exclaimed as she turned around to hug Rico. He pulled her in tightly, and for a second it seemed like he was smelling her hair, until he pulled away gently. "Hey, Sam," He said to her, and they hugged as well, but not quite as… passionately as he had with Carly. "How are you guys doing?" he asked. "Good," Carly said with a smile and a little giggle. "I have to use the bathroom," Sam said nonchalantly. "Will you guys excuse me?"

"Sure!" Rico said before Carly could say anything. "We'll wait for you," he said, with a flashing wink while Carly was not looking. Sam Raced up the stairs excitedly, sending a txt to Freddie saying "Let's talk, meet me in my room:)" It was undeniable that the smiley face was a nice touch. Would Freddie find it unusual?

* * *

"_Ay, cogida; ¡cómo mi espalda duele!"_ Rico Exclaimed in a throaty, baritone voice, just like the one he used when he was blues singing. "Would you mind if I… Stretched out a bit?" He asked Carly, with raised eyebrows and an innocent facial expression.

Carly shrugged and said, "Not at all!" As soon as she said this, Rico put both his hands down on the table, arms outstretched towards it, and arched his back, but so that it curved downwards instead of up. As he did this, he leaned backwards slightly and he knew that at this point Carly would not be able to resist staring at a certain part of him that at this point was higher off the ground even than his head, and he held that pose for a good 12 seconds until he knew other people besides Carly would begin Staring.

"AHH," he said, coming up for air and thrusting his chest out to balance his spinal chord, "MUCH better," and after saying this he sat down in a chair at the table with a mysterious, flirtatious smile.

"So, are you excited for the party tomorrow?" Rico wore his coyest smile as he queried his victim. "Yeah," Carly said, giggling nervously, and as she blushed and leaned to the side a little, Rico could not help but appreciate the irony of the situation: Was it not just last night that he was the one attempting to bring carly to the realization that she unfairly ruled her social crowd with a combination of peer pressure, social intimidation, and sex appeal? And yet here he was, playing her at her own game and beating her. "I don't know if I told you about this, but the theme of this year's party is supposed to be… _romance._" It was no exaggeration to say that Rico's voice was dripping with sex as he leaned forward over the table and deep into Carly's eyes. "Yeah," she said again, giggling and leaning even more profusely than before.

"I don't suppose you… planned on meeting anyone there?" he asked again, the obvious falsehood of his mock innocence almost disturbing.

"No," Carly said, and at this point her giggling and blushing was really starting to get out of hand.

"Well then," Rico said, and as he looked deep into Carly's eyes he could help but imagine the narrator of an old-skool Mortal Kombat video game shouting _Finish Her!_, before he leaned in and said, quite softly, "Would you like to go with me… as a date?"

This time, Carly could not respond to him for her giggling was so bad, and if her cheeks got any redder she would be ready to guide Santa's sleigh.

"I would love to," Carly managed to say, and it was just then that she noticed that she and Rico had actually been holding hands for a while now. Rico blinked softly and said, "Awesome." They enjoyed this moment for a few seconds, until Rico received a txt. He checked the time on his cell phone, 11:14 AM, before reading the txt quickly, and then said, _"Miérda,_ my boss is calling me! _Tengo que Irme,_ but, will I see you at my show tonight?" Carly nodded furiously, still blushing furiously. "Awesome," Rico said, and disappeared out of view.

* * *

"You wanted to see me?" Freddie felt a bit nervous as he quietly slipped into Sam's room, seeing her waiting for him, sitting on the foot of her bed. She got up as soon as she saw him and walked over to him with a warm smile on her face. "Hey Freddie," she began, and both Sam and Freddie noticed how similar Sam sounded to her perky, lighthearted, friendly twin sister Melanie, although this thought meant different things to them. "I just wanted to say that I thought some more about what you told me last night." It was really surprising to Sam just how easy it was for her to take this tone with Freddie; this soft, gentle tone that she had never used with anyone before. "I think you should go for it with Carly," she said, reaching out to hold his upper arm in her hand. "I know that you really care about her, and I'm SURE that she feels the same way about you. She probably just needed to take all this time to realize how good of a couple you guys would really make." For a split second, Sam was tempted to take out the flash cards she had prepared with encouraging things to say, but she remembered what was next on her list: "You two are like, _the_ school couple!" Another one came to her. "Freddie, after we had our little talk last night, it really opened my eyes to how caring you are, and Carly's been trying to tell me that for years!" She was really getting into it now, and she looked deep into his eyes as she swallowed her desire to tell him how she really felt, and whispered, _"It must be a sign! _You guys are _meant _for each other." At this point, Freddie was beaming, and Sam could tell that that last part had really done the trick; she could just read it in his smile. _Goddamn that smile,_ She thought to herself, but then paced herself, reminding her that it would be hers soon, but only if she carried out the plan well.

Freddie bounced on his feet a little, and said, smiling uncontrollably, "I'm gonna do it! I'm gonna ask her today! I, I… I can't explain it, but I know today is going to be the day!"

Sam could easily read how he was brimming with excitement, how convinced he was that this time was different. She smiled; inwardly, as she knew the plan was going to go perfectly, and outwardly, feigning to be genuinely happy for Freddie. "I'm genuinely happy for you," she assured him, and she knew he thought she meant it. She patted him twice on the arm, and whispered in his ear, _"Go get 'em, tiger!" _as she opened the door and leaned slightly on his back, and he walked out. As soon as he was out the door, Sam whipped out her phone and checked the time, 11:14 AM, before sending a txt to Rico: "Wrap it up."


	14. Intimidades Emocionales

Sam reread her latest txt from Rico (Wendy informs me that Freddie is alone in his room, Gibby is with me, Finish him!) and smiled at the Mortal Kombat reference as she looked at the clock on her pear phone; 8:57 pm, and double checked to make sure that Running Away by AM was set as the first song on her "Currently Playing" list. She did not like the power which that song had to bring out the softer side of her, but she refused to believe that it did not have a similar effect on Freddie, and she planned to use this to her advantage. Assuming the plan had gone correctly; Freddie had recently been served a steaming hot plate of rejection, and was left alone in his room to mull over his emotions. Sam slid the phone gently into her pocket, careful not to have any of the buttons pressed, and prepared for what she was about to do.

"Fredduccini," She exclaimed as casually as she could, employing the friendliest of her nicknames for Freddie that she could think of (she always had been a fettuccini fan,) as she flung open the door and barged into the room. She paused dead in the center of the room as she soaked up the sight before her; All of the lights were turned off, but the room was unusually well lit by the outrageous flood of moonlight pouring in from the enormous window to the side of the room. The lighting scheme, however, was not the sight that caught Sam's attention; it was the sight of Freddie, sitting on the foot of his bed, crying silently to himself, a box of Kleenex to his side. He looked up in shock, and the combination of surprise, fear, and sorrow in his eyes shook Sam like an earthquake.

"Sam," Freddie started to say in a choked voice, and Sam braced herself to repeatedly bombarded with the phrase "I don't want to talk about it," as Rico had warned her. _"THINK QUICK, PRINCESS PUCKETT!!!"_ Sam told herself as she realized that by standing there gawking, she was giving Freddie time to close off his emotions and return to normal. If she wanted to get what she wanted, she needed to swoop in quickly and exploit his emotions NOW, and they were fading fast. She rushed over to his side and sat down beside him, picking up the Kleenex box and placing it on her lap. She reached out and grabbed his and, and softly asked, "Freddie, what's wrong?" as she leaned her head in towards him and to the side a little.

He sniveled a little. "You can guess." He raised his head and tried to look her in the eyes, but could not bring himself to do it. "Hey," Sam said, softly, innocently, thinking to her self, _what would Melanie do?_ "What are you talking about?"

Freddie breathed deeply, and said, "I don't want to talk about it." Sam performed exactly the reaction she and Rico had rehearsed: she put on an offended face, but made a specific effort not to make him feel guilty, and said: "Hey, you can tell me anything, remember?" She looked at him, and even though they were not making eye contact, for Freddie was looking down, she ventured to guess that if she stared him down long enough he would make eye contact eventually. A second or two passed, and then her theory proved itself correct. Freddie wiped his tears and looked at Sam. "Carly rejected me again," he said, and looked down again. Sam did not change the position of her head; she knew that her stare-down tactic was crucial to her success, and it was working. "Freddie, I'm so sorry," she said very quickly, maintaining her soft, genuine tone of voice. "But you know what?" Freddie made eye contact again, and Sam pounced on this golden opportunity. "I believe everything happens for a reason. And," she said, poking Freddie gently in the chest as she said this, "I think somewhere in that big heart you do too." She smiled as she said this, and the compliment brought Freddie to smile, if only for a second. "You know what I think it means, Freddie?" He looked at her again, and she leaned in as she said softly, "I think it means there's someone _even better_ out there for you." She smiled at him as she said this, and she could see him brighten up just a little as he said, with a glimmer of hope in his voice, "You think so?"

"I know so," Sam said confidently, still maintaining her gentle, intimate tone of voice. "Hey," she said again, a bit louder this time, her body perking up and a spark in her eyes. "You know what would make you feel better?"

"Hmm?" Freddie asked, still tearstained.

"A little music," Sam said, almost a little mischievously, with a cute smile, and she pulled out her pear phone and put on Running Away. "I love this song," Sam blatantly lied, resisting that nostalgic lurch in her stomach every time she heard those melodic opening bars.

"I, I can't-" Freddie did not even know what he was trying to say as he stuttered out these two words, and he met Sam's gaze, listening to the song. He tried to pull away from her gaze, but it was as if someone held his chin in a vice grip, holding his head in position, as against his will, Sam's Icy blue eyes shot through his eyes into his soul like icicles.

Sam reached for his other hand, and at that point Freddie realized both of their hands were enlaced within those of their partner.

"Listen," Sam said, and smiled innocently at Freddie. "It's our song!" she said softly, with a hint of flirt in her voice.

Freddie choked a little, similar to the reaction Sam had the first time she called it that, without even thinking about it. "I still want the four of us to go to that party," Sam said reassuringly. She hesitated a little before saying, nervously, "Did she say why?"

"She said that jerk Rico already asked her," he said with obvious contempt.

"Hey," Sam said, still softly but with a hint of ordinance this time. "Rico's not a jerk," she said softly, as she silently thought to herself, _hate the game, not the player._ "He really likes you," she said reassuringly, sliding her hand up his arm now. She believed it to be the truth.

"Yeah, well how can I go now that she's going with him? It'd be way too awkward to see either of them there."

"We can make it work!" Sam said cheerfully. "Remember, Rico and I…you know, but I'm still going with them! This is going to be the AWESOMEST party EVER," she said, staring him in the eyes, "And we're invited. There's _no way_ we can pass up this opportunity."

"But how can we make it work?" Freddie said, a little exasperated.

Sam put on an innocent look, and suggested, rather asked, "We… could go together?"

Freddie looked down and away. "Yea, right. You would never want to-" he stopped; because as he looked into Sam's eyes, he knew that what he was about to say was incorrect. "You would- really?" He asked her.

"Yes," She said, smiling, and she leaned in to hug him.


	15. Casa Dels Ossos Parte 1

Sam looked herself up and down in the mirror. _I look good,_ she thought to herself, as she admired the outfit she had picked out and the makeup Carly had helped her do. Both of them were excited for their upcoming dates, but Carly was easily the more excited; Sam's conscience was weighed down slightly by watching Carly's excitement, for how would Carly take the news that he was only distracting her from something Sam wanted? Whatever the case, Sam was well aware of the fact that she and Carly both looked HOTT, and they were ready to make it known.

They both looked themselves up and down once more in the mirror, finally satisfied with what they saw. "Shall we head out?" Sam asked in a goofy voice. "We Shall!" Carly responded enthusiastically.

They headed towards the elevator to meet Freddie and Rico at the lobby. They had received special permission from Principal Franklin to attend this party, and according to Rico, it would easily be the best night of their young lives; even better than prom. Freddie was dressed up in an outfit that Sam and Rico had picked out for him; all from his uncle's clothing line. "And remember," Rico warned him nervously, "Don't get ANY stains on that. And if you can, try to avoid being photographed," for the clothes he was wearing were prototypes for their spring 2010 collection. Sam felt a sense of pride in having a date to the party almost as good looking as Rico. And furthermore, she knew that the romantic connection she felt with Freddie was even stronger than the one she felt with Rico, and this made the evening to be that much more special. They met each other with their usual hugs at the foot of the staircase, and Rico led the way to the black limousine that awaited them at the grand entrance of the hotel.

* * *

"So where is this place again?" Carly asked, regarding the supposed "House" they were to arrive at. Rico gave a slight laugh and said, _"Casa Batlló,_ one of the most famous works of Antonio Gaudí, the greatest artist in all the history of Barcelona. _Casa Batlló_ is my favorite of all of his works. Don't you guys remember that huge brown church you saw? That was a Gaudí project too- _El __Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Familia," _he finished with an enamored look.

"Well," Freddie said, "With all due respect, we can't pronounce ANY of those names. So what should we call this place?"

Rico laughed a little and replied elegantly, _"The house of bones."_

* * *

As soon as they pulled up to their destination, they stepped out of the limousine and everything Rico had told them came true. The house was without comparison the most breathtaking thing they had seen in their lives; More than 100 years old and it was the epitome of chic, urban, fashion, and art. They were completely drawn in to the sight of the house, with its many walls and windows and modern, artistic external lighting. Sam was the first to rip her gaze away from the many sights of the house; the one that caught her attention most was the visible part of the roof, which reminded her of the arched back of a scaly blue dragon. "So," she said, looking around until she relocated Rico, "Where do we go from here?"

"Right this way," he said with a smile, leading them over to the entrance of a door guarded by a large man with a velvet rope.

"_Hola!" _Rico said enthusiastically, waving to the man as he walked over to the entrance. The man said _"Hola, Rico!"_ and then proceeded to ask Rico something in Catalan that none of them could understand. Rico however, said, _"Sí," _and then proceeded to say something which seemed to also be in Catalan. As soon as Rico was done smiling, the man smiled at his and said, _"Ay, pase, y lo pase bien!" _Rico smiled at him and walked through as he lifted the velvet rope for him. Carly, Sam, and Freddie made to follow him but the man put down the rope before they could go through. They looked at him with surprised expressions, and he said to them, _"No reconozco," _with a stern expression on his face. They all just made shocked expressions and stuttered at him. _"Nombre y Apellidos?"_ he shot at them, holding up a clipboard before his face. Rico turned around, however, and went over to them, saying to the man, _"Hay problema?" _The man muttered something back to Rico, most likely also in Catalan, and Rico said firmly but not condescendingly, _"Estan comigo."_ The man nodded once and raised the velvet rope, and Carly, Sam and Freddie ran through it as fast as they could before he could change his mind. _"Gracias Ernesto," _Rico said, and he led them into the house of bones.

* * *

Everything they had dreamed of and more was waiting for them upon the roof of the _Casa Batlló,_ which they discovered as they ascended the final staircase to the roof. The people there were dressed so fashionably it was tempting to think that they were all celebrities, and Carly, Sam, And Freddie slowly came to the realization with great relish that they were three of these people. "Ok so here's the plan," Rico said with an excited grin on his face. "Sam and I are going to see what they have for food, Carly, go scout out the dance floor for the perfect spot for us, and Freddie, find the DJ and give him this list. And no peeking!" Everyone agreed and went on their separate missions. "I'm worried about Freddie," Sam commented to Rico. "Don't worry," He responded immediately, "I wrote the list in Catalan, because I knew he was going to peek anyways." Sam laughed and said, "That's good- but it's not what I meant. We're alone together…" "It's only for a few seconds," Rico cut her off. "Freddie is a big boy now, he can handle sharing. Now remember, in exactly 15 minutes, the DJ is going to play the three songs I told him, and you have to dance to all three of them with Freddie. The first two are like sexy songs, and then the third is Running Away by AM."

"I meant to talk to you about that," Sam shot at him indignantly. "How did you know that Freddie and I…have a history with that song?"

"Because," Rico said calmly, "It's on Freddie's pear pod as the only song of a play list named "Sam," and it's on your pear phone even though you don't like it. I knew there had to be something there. Now that we're on the topic…" he grinned slyly, "Would you mind telling me what the significance of it is? I'm _SO_ curious to know." Sam sighed and told Rico the story.

"Interesting," he said as soon as she was done. "OK, so back to fthe plan! The first song is Deli Oğlan by Hadise. I know you don't know that song, but it's a great dance song, to _warm you up_ for song number two, which you _do_ know. It's She Wolf By Shakira, ANOTHER great dance song. Oh, but just so you know, it's the Spanish version of the song. I hope that's not a problem?" "No, it'll be fine-" Sam Started, "Good," Rico cut her off, "Because Deli Oğlan is sure as hell not in English. And then, as I told you, Running Away by AM is next, and then you guys need to slow dance to that song. Can you handle all of that?"

"Well, yes, but I am a little worried…"

"About what?"

"About the whole… _sexy dance_ thing. I've never done anything like that…"

"It'll be fine," Rico said, exercising yet again his talent for planning on the spot. "I'll lead with Carly, and you can just follow my example. It's easy!" he exclaimed in response to her expression. "And you look great." Sam and Rico looked around, to see that Carly and Freddie were both headed their way. "Deli Oğlan is on next!" Rico exclaimed in a whisper. "Now go out there and _cómo se dice, _get your skank on!"


	16. Casa Dels Ossos Parte 2

"_¡Venga, Bailamos!"_ Rico shouted at Carly and Freddie through the crowd as they approached. _"Y recuerdes," _Rico said into Sam's ear, "Deli Oğlan."

"Come on you guys, let's Dance!" Rico said energetically once Freddie and Carly were standing next to them. "Sam and I decided we should wait until later to get some food," Rico said, and Sam nodded in agreement. "Freddie, how did it go with the DJ?"

"When he took the list, he just nodded at me with a smile and said something in Catalan."

"Perfect!" Rico said, positively brimming with excitement. "OK, Carly, let's see this magic spot you found for us!" Carly Smiled and took Rico's hand. "It's right over here," she said, and led him through the crowd, Sam and Freddie following suit. Sam's heart leapt a little as Freddie held her hand as well; although he only meant to keep track of her in the busy crowd, there was something sweet about the perfect way their hands fit together. The current song playing was a dance remix of Manos al Aire by Nelly Furtado, and as they finally got into Carly's perfect clearing they noticed that everyone seemed to be doing an interesting fusion of pop dancing and traditional Spanish dance, something all of them were utterly incapable of reproducing, except of course for Rico, who treated it like the most casual thing in the world while Carly just moved around a little and tried to blend in, while Sam and Freddie basically just stood there looking around. There was no denying that they were both quite nervous about dancing with each other, and looking around seeing the exotic dance moves that just seemed to come so naturally to everyone else. Soon, however, the song ended, and everyone around them stopped dancing to cheer. As soon as everyone settled down, The DJ took the Mic and shouted a few things they could not understand into the Mic, but as he said his final statement, Sam heard him drag out the name of the next song he was playing, which was none other than Deli Oğlan. Sam remembered the plan. "I love this song!" she blatantly lied again, shouting at Freddie. He raised his eyebrows in disbelief and for a split second his jaw dropped, until he shouted over the crowd, "You like Turkish Music?!"

Sam faltered for a moment, then put up her usual tough kid façade and said, "Pshh, yea… all of the badass kids at our school listen to it." This was easily one of the worst lies she had ever told, but Freddie accepted it as plainly as a weather forecast, if with a little shrug. "Coolness," he half said, half shouted over the opening bars of the song. "I don't really know how to dance though…" "It's okay!" Sam shouted reassuringly, looking over at Rico to see what he was doing.

As soon as the music had started, Rico had taken both of Carly's hands in his and raised them high above his head, and begun swiveling his hips towards Carly in a series of elaborate figure eights. Sam's jaw dropped; she was thin, sure, and it was fair to say that she was flexible enough, but there was no way in hell, she thought to herself, she would be able to replicate Rico's unique ability to masterfully manipulate his center of gravity to rotate his hips in such elaborate patterns, and, God only knows how, but he had managed to slowly inch closer and closer to carly while keeping both his feet slowly planted on the ground. _WTF?! THERE IS NO WAY I CAN DO THAT!!!_ Sam panicked inwardly as she noticed Freddie staring at her expectantly; it was she who said she wanted to dance, at here she was staring at Rico completely motionlessly. She flung her head around and grabbed both of Freddie's hands in hers, and attempted to do some sort of shimmy-esque move that she thought looked similar to what Rico was doing. She turned around Freddie, but remembered that they way she was dancing now was very innocent looking, and that she was supposed to be unleashing her inner skank. She shimmied a bit closer to Freddie, and looked over his shoulder at Rico again for guidance, only to be completely floored by what she saw. As the open lyrics of the song had picked up, he was managing to do some elaborate hip-hop dance that looked like a robot fused with a Turkish belly dance, and he had also managed to get Carly to start dancing too, although not quite as well as he could. Sam leaned back to make eye contact with Freddie, but she was unable to quite get into the rhythm of the song, because it had just switched to the chorus and she had never heard this song before in her life. For the third time, she looked over at Rico, but this time was different; the first two times she had looked over for her own reasons, but now her eyes were drawn against her will by the scene he was causing. He had somehow backed himself up against a wall during the song, and was throwing out an elaborate sequence of several variations of the classic "Pop-Lock-and-Drop-it," and in between each one he had managed to put one of his legs somewhere Sam's arm could not even reach, and she looked at Freddie again and said inwardly, _toughen up, princess Puckett, you can do this!_ Sam committed herself to what she was doing, took a deep breath, and broke eye contact with Freddie to attempt to pop-lock-and-drop-it. It was not the best pop lock and drop it, in fact, it was not even a very good one, but it had done the trick; Sam had caught Freddie's attention and she knew it. "Come on," she said flirtatiously, "Dance!" Freddie's grin widened and they both made awkward attempts to "Sexy dance," as Rico called it. Although neither of them was very good at dancing, they were still having a good time and enjoying themselves thoroughly, and the definitely felt that dancing was bringing them closer together. Soon, however, the song ended, for it was not a very long one, and Sam and Freddie cheered with everyone else as soon as it was done.

The DJ announced the next song, and Sam could not in a million years have understood what he said, but as soon as he finished talking, she perked up and said: "OH, I know what this is! It's the Spanish version of that Shakira song, She Wolf!" Freddie groaned. He did not particularly like that song. "Come on, I Love this song!" Sam said, pulling him in closer to dance; she did not particularly like the song, but she knew the beat very well, and this time, was prepared to shape up her act. She looked briefly at Rico for a second, and if Sam and Freddie had both hated the song with all their guts, they way Rico felt about it made up for both of them. He returned again to his wall and began doing some exotic, promiscuous moves, and the way he worked the wall that he was up against was almost reminiscent of a pole dancer. Sam did not have any walls to use as props, but she knew the song and Freddie knew it too, and she attempted her pop lock and drop it once again. This time, she had managed to fit it into the beat of the song, and it had come out much better. Sam still could not compete with Rico, for now he had left the wall and began dipping Carly all over the place and moving his body in a way Sam had no idea human bodies could move. Sam continued looking for guidance, but she focused more on Freddie this time, for she was beginning to feel more emotionally connected with him as the song progressed, and also because she knew there was no point in even trying to replicate his dance moves. As the song went on, Sam eventually stopped looking at Rico at all, for she had picked up enough confidence in her own dance moves, and Freddie was definitely having a good time. Sam began to get a bit more flirtatious and rambunctious with her moves, she was beginning to get tired! Her breathing was very heavy, and her arms were beginning to get tired. Sam looked over again at Rico, and wondered how he was able to do what he did without even breaking a sweat. Before she could think any longer, however, the song ended, and Sam braced herself, repeating in her head, _"Stomach don't lurch, Stomach don't lurch," _as she knew she would soon have to hear the opening bars of the infamous Running Away by AM. Freddie cheered for the end of the song, even though he was not particularly fond of it, and lowered his arms, letting go of Sam's hands. The DJ Riled up the crowd, and then Said something in Spanish, with the words "Slow Dance" somewhere in the middle, and then said, with a particularly thick accent: "Song is called Running Away By AM."

Freddie and Sam locked eyes again, and she thanked the heavens; her stomach had not lurched this time, and she could tell that Freddie's had: perfect. Freddie had a nervous look on his face, but Sam smiled warmly and said, with a hint of mock surprise, "Listen, It's our song!"


	17. Casa Dels Ossos Parte 3

**Author's note- I am thinking of making the next chapter the last one. Unless you guys think it should be longer? Please review, PM, anything! And thanks for reading :)**

**Nota del autor- Estoy pensando en haciend****o el capitulo siguiente lo ultimo. ¿Piensan ustedes que debo escribir mas? ¡Review (Revisen?) o PM (Mensaje personal?) Por Favor! Y gracias por leyendo :) **

Before Freddie could say anything, Sam had flung her arms over Freddie's shoulders, and she felt his heart race as she pulled their bodies in closer together. Sam smiled sweetly as she looked into Freddie's eyes, and she noticed how much better it felt to be with someone the same height as her, remembering how much taller Rico was. She looked around to spot him for comparison, but he had lead Carly over to the snack table, undoubtedly so Freddie and Sam could have a little privacy. Sam noticed this and silently thanked Rico, and she knew now was the perfect time to make her move. Slow dancing with Freddie atop _Casa Batlló_ was the most romantic thing Sam had ever experienced, including their fire escape kiss. Sparks shot up her spinal chord as Freddie's hand gently found their way around Sam's waist.

"I'm having a lot of fun tonight," Sam said after almost 15 seconds of awkward silence. Freddie, whose face had previously been occupied by a miserable face that he often made even when he was not particularly miserable, smiled as he met Sam's gaze. "Me too," Freddie responded, and then looked down, blushing a little. "You know, I was a little worried that it wouldn't be fun, cause of… everything that happened…" he looked back into Sam's eyes, "You've really made the evening special for me so far." Freddie felt nervous as he said this; even though Sam had been so nice to him the past few days, it was so difficult to shake the habit of walking on eggshells around her. Her response, however, was favorable; she blushed and said "Thanks… you too," with an equally nervous smile. "I know it must be hard for you to see him with her," Sam said, speaking of Carly and Rico, "But, everything still turned out awesome, didn't it?"

"Yeah," Freddie said with a smile, "Yeah it did."

Sam leaned in further, and placed her head beside Freddie's to whisper into his ear: "Maybe would you say…even better than you hoped?"

Freddie looked around. The party was much better than he could have ever imagined. "Yeah," he said softly, enjoying how close he and Sam were becoming, not just physically but also emotionally.

"Would you maybe say… it turned out even better this way… than it would have with Carly?"

Freddie stopped dead in his tracks. He thought of how Carly used to make him feel. Where had all of that gone? What he was feeling now with Sam was even more magical than everything he had hoped to feel with Carly. Could he tell Sam this?

"I… I guess," he said nervously, his heart racing at having this confession slip before he could even think of its causes and consequences.

"Yeah?" Sam asked softly, vulnerably, into his hear, awaiting his confirmation while biting her lip and placing her ear as close as she could to his mouth.

"Yeah," Freddie confirmed, this time more confidently, and he had never felt more affectionate towards Sam in his whole life. He wanted to hold her closely, and then he realized that he was. He wanted to be with her, smelling her hair and whispering in her ear, and then realized that he was. He wanted to be in love with her… and then he realized that he was. He lowered his head, placing his chin gently on Sam's shoulder. The only problem was the confusing messages he received in reply to his subtle emotional probes. How did Sam feel about him, truly? A thought struck Freddie, filling him with worry; was the love they were currently sharing only temporary? Here they were, on the rooftop of _Casa Batlló_, under the stars and above the city, slow dancing to their song, no one else that they knew around. Would it all be over as soon as they returned to Ridgeway; as soon as they returned to their homes, to their social circles, to the real world? Freddie's grip tensed as he mulled this over in his brain and his dancing slowed noticeably. Sam moved back a step and looked at Freddie.

"What's wrong?" she asked softly, furrowing her eyebrows and cocking her head to the side.

"I'm afraid…" Freddie said, his face resuming that miserable look he wore so often. Sam laughed nervously. "Of What?" Freddie heaved a deep sigh. He stuttered briefly, then spat at her, "I like you." It was out before he could even think about it. He bit his lip and looked upwards to the stars of Spain. Sam giggled again, blushing, and she raised her hand up to the side of Freddie's face, placing her thumb gently on his cheek, right underneath his eye. "I like you too," she said, also biting her lip nervously, but with more anticipation and a slight giggle in her voice. She rubbed her thumb gently over his cheek. "What is there to be scared of?"

Freddie thought of all the answers he could give to that question, but stopped abruptly, as he realized none of them mattered; Sam had just returned his affections.

This was the biggest step Freddie had ever made, or so he believed. Finally, he had trusted someone enough to tell them something he could never say out loud; and his trust had finally paid off. It was the most magical feeling in the world, being only with Sam, and knowing that he could trust her with all the secret emotions he felt deep inside.  
Suddenly, he was struck with the desire to explore; to see what other emotions he could share with Sam, what other areas of his internal psyche he could come to terms with.

"I'm so glad," Sam said, placing her head on Freddie's shoulder, "We… got it out of the way. You know?" Freddie nodded. They listened to the lyrics of the song, to the repetition of the phrases _Running Away_ and _Even from the Good Things._ How long had they spent, running away from the good things; each other? "We don't have to keep running away from the good things. Like in the song. Running away from each other." Freddie was silent, but she felt him smile as he placed his head on her shoulder. This was confirmation enough for her. "Thank you, Freddie, for finally trusting me." "I love you," was his whispered response. _WHAT?!_ They both thought to themselves in synchronization. "What?" Sam said, in surprise, raising her head. "I mean," she leaned her head backwards, and she and Freddie made eye contact again. As she looked into his eyes, she read every thought going through his mind like a book: _Crap, I said it. Am I going to be in trouble now? Please don't hurt me…_ and then she pulled out of his thoughts, to look into his eyes. He saw how innocent they were, and she realized how attracted she was to his innocence. She realized what this look meant, this look that he always had, whenever he was miserable, sad, angry, even sometimes when nothing seemed to be wrong at all. This face was his way of saying: _"Please don't break my trust."_ Then and there, Sam decided that she would never break or abuse Freddie's trust ever again. She smiled, and whispered back, nervously, but with trust in her voice, _"I love you too."_ They smiled as each other, and as the last bar of the song faded away in its sweetly melodic way, they kissed under the moon and stars of Barcelona.


	18. Epílogo

**Author's Note- Finally our story has come to a close!!! Thank you to all of the fans who have made this such an awesome adventure, I could not be more grateful!!! Thank you for making my story worth more than 2,000 hits! And be sure to click on the link in the email- you'll know what I mean when you get there ;)**

**Nota Del Autor- Finalmente Nuestra historia ha terminada! Gracias por todos mis fanes que han hecho escribiendo para ustedes tanto diversion, y gracias para mas de _DOS MIL_ visitas a la historia! Y haz clic al enlace que puse abajo en el "email"- ustedes comprenderán cuando leen ;) **

Carly Shay sighed and sat down on the sofa in front of the TV. It had been a long day at the mall, and the only thing that could possibly make this day better was a little Girly Cow. Before she could check the listings, however, a friendly face that always brightened her way barged in through her doorway with a spring in his step and a personal size pork roast in hand, and asked, jokingly, "Permission to enter?"

"Permission Granted!" Carly said in her silly voice. "You excited for our show today?"

"Who isn't?!" Freddie said, walking past the sofa towards the kitchen.

"There you are," Sam exclaimed brightly, as she pulled out a bowl of oatmeal out of the microwave and handed it to him. After he set the pork roast down on the counter, she kissed him quickly on the cheek as he accepted the oatmeal from her and said, "Thanks, babe."

Carly giggled a little, rolling her eyes; It had been a shock enough when Sam and Freddie announced they were a couple, and she was still having trouble adjusting all of their cute little couple shenanigans, like cooking for each other and calling each other "Babe." But, as she always did, she smiled; they were totally the cutest couple in the school, and they had never been more fun to be around than now, when they got along so well. Carly moved over to the left one seat on the sofa so that Sam and Freddie could sit next to each other, hoping desperately that Freddie sat in the middle; as much as she loved Sam, her slow cooked pork roast was often much messier than Freddie's instant oatmeal.

"You guys have fun day at the mall today?" Freddie inquired of Sam and Carly as he sat in the middle of the sofa with a towel in his lap, just in case Sam got a little rambunctious with her pork roast.

"Yeah, AWESOMEST day ever!" Sam said; a little out of breath; she and carly had spent the whole day on their feet and the summer heat had taken a lot out of them. "Btw, I got you that thing you wanted from tech-world while we were there. Here's the change," she said, handing him some cash.

Freddie paused for a second, examining the money Sam had given him, before saying, "Babe, this is the full amount I gave you-"

"I know," she said, cutting him off, and then giving him another kiss on the cheek. He smiled and blushed a little, then wiped off the pork juice with his towel in one hand and put his other arm around her shoulder.

"Ugh, I've seen this episode a million times," Carly said, indicating the TV listing of Girly Cow with slight exasperation. "I'm going to go get some cubed fruit, brb."

Sam and Freddie enjoyed the episode of girly cow together, on the couch, as Carly headed over to the Kitchen. Before she walked through the door frame, however, she stopped to look at her computer.

"Hey you guys, Check this out," Carly said excitedly. "Rico sent us an email from Spain!"

"Coolness," Freddie exclaimed, as he got up from the sofa to read over Carly's shoulder. "It says here; he went on this music website… and made us a play list of a bunch of songs from our vacation! Aww, it's for us to like, remember him by! That's so cool! I miss him already," Carly said, with a sentimental sigh.

"Hey, that does sound cool," Sam said, getting up from her pork roast to check out the email. Carly scrolled down a little. "It says we can listen to the play list at this link:"

**www(DOT)imeem(DOT)com/people/WarKS9/playlist/4l1eouYW/incluso-si-solo-soundtrack-music-playlist/**

They clicked on the link and viewed all of the memories from their vacation in song form; some of the songs Rico had sang and dedicated to them, some of the songs from their rooftop party, OF COURSE the song Running Away by AM, and then some extra ones just for fun.

"Wow, that's so awesome," Freddie said, glancing at Sam as soon as their song popped up on the play list, and she met him with a smile; they had decided a while back that running away was officially "Their Song."

"Okay, this is cool and all, but we do need to rehearse one last time for iCarly. It starts in less than an hour!"

"Definitely," Freddie replied; the three of them had had long, relaxing days, and were excited to pump up the excitement with some variety, comedy, and random dancing. They all headed up the elevator, and into the studio, and Freddie booted up all of his technical equipment as carly and Sam loosened up to be on camera. As the computer's monitor faded into clarity, Freddie smiled and looked at his background picture; it was a picture of Him and Sam alone together, standing in front of a huge tree in Barcelona, with Sam's fingers making bunny ears behind Freddie's head. Inscribed above them upon the tree, within a giant carved heart, was:

_Sam+Freddie_

_Incluso Si Solo_

_Para un Momento_

He looked at the picture a second longer, smiling at one of their best memories from the trip, then said, "All right, you guys ready to rehearse?"

"Ready Freddie!" Sam exclaimed, beaming and jumping up and down.

Freddie took his position and counted down; "In five, four, three, two…"


End file.
